This was originally posted on the CATS Blog.
Sarah Palin got a #FF (Follow Friday) from Ashton Kutcher.
In “Twitter-speak”, that's essentially what happened in September 2008 when Republican Presidential nominee John McCain tapped her to be his Vice Presidential candidate. Suddenly, Sarah Palin was a household name.
At the time, I was working for the Associated Press at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN. Everyone huddled around the TVs in the adjacent media center: reporters from the USA Today, Washington Post, MSNBC - everyone - was asking the same question: "Who is Sarah Palin"?
Of course, she was the Governor of Alaska and was known as a rising star in her home state. But still, who was this younger, attractive politician about to be thrust onto the national scene?
In social media terms - Sarah Palin received a huge "Follow Friday". (For those unfamiliar with Twitter: on Fridays, folks on Twitter will tweet names of people they think are worth following on the social network. If a person with a large following tweets your name in a 'Follow Friday' (#FF) - you're going to get a load of new follows; and a load of new eyes on everything you write - ie, Ashton Kutcher - who has over a million followers). Palin's name was out there, and people on both sides of the aisle were clicking her proverbial "@SarahPalin" link to check out her proverbial "twitter" page.
It is the dream scenario for any business looking to utilize social media, a jackpot for the HR professional trying to get the word out about an opening to the best candidates. It's a lot of eyeballs on your website and your job openings.
Flash back to September 2008: Everyone was now following Sarah Palin. Love her or hate her: She had your attention. But despite the massive following, she had to keep that following interested. So far, she has succeeded.
Here's how Palin has capitalized (I call them the Palin 3Ms): Minimal, on Message, and Mavericky.
Palin has embraced Facebook since her election loss and has parlayed it into a sounding board. She has developed a knack for saying just enough, in just the right ‘oh shucks‘ way, to come across as the 'maverick' she has carefully crafted herself to be. She knows her audience and knows they are hungry for her to say more - but she keeps those little peeks into "what she really thinks" minimal. All the while, she stays on message
Many politicians don't do this - or fill their Facebook page with press release after press release and call that "social networking". Fact is, we can smell an intern posting content for a high profile politician a mile away. And Palin has her boring press releases too, but it's those little 'zingers' you find occasionally in her "notes" on Facebook that keep CNN following her every keystroke - and us still caring. We see
The 2008 Presidential Election represented a seismic shift in how we get our political information, how we vote, and how we follow our candidates. You could call 2008 the "Social Media Election" - it dramatically changed the way election politics work. And it doesn't look like we're going back anytime soon. Some candidates have taken the idea and run with it - making a lot of money in the process.
The same can be said for recruiters and HR professionals: how they get eyeballs on their candidates has changed. There is a different dynamic, and different approach they must take to gain attention and capitalize on that attention.
How has social media changed your job? How has social media changed your hiring practices? How are you utilizing social media to make money, find jobs, and track them?
