| MN-GOV | Facebook | Twitter | Online ad buys | YouTube | | MAK (DFL) | 2643 | 1770 | None | No channel
top vids have 200-300 views | | Mark Dayton (DFL) | 4085 personal
470 campaign | 2147 | None | No channel
vids about him range from 200-400 views | | Matt Entenza (DFL) | 2142 personal
751 campaign | 874 | Yes | 24 subscribers
top vids have 1K-1250 views | | Tom Emmer (R) | 5652 | 1219 | No idea | 33 subscribers
convention vid has 2K views | | Tom Horner (IP) | 1008 personal
823 campaign | 418 | None
Some | 8 subscribers
Top vid has 300 views |
Does Minnesota Governor's race exemplifies the stereotype that Republicans are winning at social media? It seems like it does. The obvious next question is does it matter? Is doing well at social media the equivalent of winning the lawn sign war, i.e., "lawn signs don't vote." DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez seems to think along these lines. He had this to say about the DFL's social media strategy (from a City Pages discussion of Michele Bachmann's social media presence):
"I'd be surprised if Bachmann wasn't leading," he said. "Her full time job seems to be finding ways to publicize herself. She doesn't do anything else."
And he dismissed Bachmann's Twitter activity, and the Republicans' embrace of the platform, as "a tiny little eddy in the estuary" of social media.
"It's the entry-level tool," and the trendy tool of the moment, Melendez says, asserting that his party's social media bench was deeper and broader than anything the Republicans can bring to the match.
Melendez and the the DFL Party don't seem to have a strategy and this is playing out with their candidates. The party can't help build up a candidate's presence because the party has few followers and is relatively inactive.
| Facebook | Twitter | Online ad buys | YouTube | | DFL Party | 3372 | 1855 | Zero | no channel | | Brian Melendez | 867 | 87 | n/a | no channel |
The party itself doesn't post much at all on it's own Facebook page. Luckily, plenty of DFLers do. Also, 3300 Facebook fans is a relatively small number considering the importance of the institution.
The DFL twitter account, @MinnesotaDFL, is pretty active, but has nowhere near the following a state party could easily have.
On the other side, the Republicans understand that social media is important and work hard at it. They are looking to gain any edge they can. Emmer has rapidly gained a Facebook following and his Twitter following, while not large now, will also be climbing rapidly. The Emmer campaign puts out a steady stream of information on both Facebook and Twitter.
Getting back to the DFL candidates ... Former US Senator Mark Dayton has the biggest Facebook following amongst the DFLers, but that's simply because he's so well known. Entenza uses Twitter the best and Dayton uses it the least. All three use Facebook well, but none have worked at building their following considering how high profile all three are.
What is clear is that none of the three have worked that much on social media up til this point. There is plenty of room for improvement.
| MN-06 | Facebook | Twitter | Online ad buys | YouTube | | Tarryl Clark (DFL) | 6695 | 3029 | LOTS! | 51 subscribers
"Why I'm running..." has 5K views | | Michele Bachmann (R) | 29K for govt page
17K for campaign | 16837 | Not that I'm aware of | 1918 subscribers
3K to 30K views |
For all her insanity, lying and fear-mongering, Michele Bachmann is definitely taking advantage of her high profile and exploiting social media. Hiring 4 communications staffers has also helped. Bachmann is a role model of how to use TV and radio to fuel her social media presence.
Tarryl Clark is doing the best of all the DFL candidates in tough races. She has a strategy and has been working it hard. In the month before Sarah Palin visited MN on behalf of Bachmann, Clark's ads were all over the blogosphere and Facebook. While she trails the queen of social media, she is gaining traction rapidly. This will only snowball as the summer progresses and Bachmann says and does more insane ****.
| MN-02 | Facebook | Twitter | Online ad buys | YouTube | | Dan Powers (DFL) | 415 personal
574 campaign | 986 | Yes | no subscribers
37 views of his only vid | | John Kline (R) | 1506 | 176 | None | 12 subscribers
3500 views of his top vid |
John Kline has been a do-nothing back-bencher for most of his political career. This year he was thrust into the role of top minority member on the Health, Environment and Labor Committee. He doesn't work Facebook or Twitter very hard, but he has no need. Nobody has come close since he was elected.
Dan Powers is working hard at building a social media presence, but it seems that the DFLers in the district aren't following along. Sadly, all the DFLers who have run against Kline have faced the same uphill battle to gain any momentum. Dan is doing it correctly, hopefully it pays off.
| MN-03 | Facebook | Twitter | Online ad buys | YouTube | | Jim Meffert (DFL) | 801 | 254 | A few | 1 subscriber
2 of his 3 vids have been views by 300+ | | Erik Paulsen | 2961 personal
811 campaign | 3205 | None | 81 subscribers
Top vid has 300 views |
Erik Paulsen hasn't worked his social media very hard at all. This is somewhat surprising considering he knows that he will likely be a DCCC target.
Jim Meffert is using social media the least of all the DFL candidates I've examined. The netroots has power, but it does take some work by the candidate and his staff to be able to exploit it. |
