news story / By Ryan Burns

Tweet the Vote

Facebook and Twitter have transformed the electoral process. Do local candidates know it?

(June 3, 2010)  When Ashton Kutcher was on David Letterman last week, he sat on Dave’s lap, snapped a photo with his iPhone and posted it immediately to Twitter. Letterman spent the rest of the interview mocking Twitter and the twits who use it — repeatedly interrupting Kutcher with imitations of typical tweets. “Just dropped an egg,” Letterman deadpanned in a dopey muppet voice. “Uh oh, my zipper’s down again!”

Dave’s not alone. Many people still view social media as digital dumpsters for brain drivel, which they often are. But they can also be powerful communication tools, especially when it comes to politics. Arguably, our current president would not be our current president without the organizing and mobilizing power of social media. Nor would the “grassroots” Tea Party movement be such a force. In 2010, candidates who ignore social media do so at their peril.

With the primary election set for Tuesday, we decided to analyze some local races to see how well the candidates have utilized social media — Facebook and Twitter in particular. Will the results prove prophetic? Will the candidates with the most online followers also get the most votes? We’ll find out, and when we do, we’ll tell you about it in 140 characters or less.

District Attorney: The incumbent’s Facebook page has the informative if cumbersome title “Paul Gallegos Humboldt County District Attorney 2010.” As of Tuesday afternoon, 209 people have “liked” the page, meaning at the very least that they’re keeping tabs on his campaign. Updates have been steady — mostly dry event announcements and links to newspaper articles — and the page includes plenty of photos and links to YouTube campaign videos. Twitter? Not so much. “Gallegos 2010” tweeted just once, announcing the endorsement of Del Norte DA Mike Riese on Feb. 16. Gallegos has eight Twitter followers.

Challenger Paul Hagen has 69 Facebook patrons and evidently no Twitter account. His Facebook page has been updated just six times, and the only photo is a studio head shot.

Allison Jackson, the other DA challenger, scores higher marks with an impressive 274 Facebook likers. Her page includes videos, event listings and candid photos, and her followers are engaged, often posting comments beneath Jackson’s status updates. “AJforDA” is on Twitter and has 63 tweets (most generated automatically via Facebook). She has 16 Twitter followers, which isn’t all that impressive, but she’s following 26 herself, which suggests she’s interested in what voters have to tweet.

Advantage: Jackson.

Sheriff: Of all the candidates in all the county races, Undersheriff Mike Downey has accumulated the most Facebook followers: 544 of ’em as of Tuesday. Chief DA Investigator Mike Hislop, Downey’s competitor, has a quarter that amount. Both candidates have posted campaign videos, photos and what appear to be self-authored messages on their respective “walls,” so content-wise it’s pretty much a draw. Neither candidate is on Twitter.

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