Comments on: Michael Flaherty, It's Not About You, It's About Me

By: smith6237

smith6237 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:39:14 +0000

Hi
Can,t understand the objectives & reason of this post.
???
Feeling totally blank____

By: Adam Pieniazek

Adam Pieniazek — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:57:01 +0000

“As a side question, do you think he actually does the tweets himself?”

No. That’s just a gut instinct and it seems like his social media campaign is managed. I’m OK with that, but they should state that it’s not him tweeting if that’s the case.

Mayor Tom Menino’s campaign has admitted it’s not him, it’s his campaign staff, and Sam Yoon’s campaign staff indicated it’s really Sam Yoon tweeting.

By: Art

Art — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:25:37 +0000

I’m not a Bostonian but politicians around here are the same (Cincinnati). I think politicians that misrepresent themselves are basically liars. If they can’t be truthful in the campaign what will they do when the spotlight is off? As a side question, do you think he actually does the tweets himself?

By: Adam Pieniazek

Adam Pieniazek — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:26:36 +0000

A bit of both Ari. My main complaint here is that he’s branding himself as the new and improved mayoral candidate, whereas Mayor Menino is the old, out-dated candidate. That’s all well and good, but if you’re going to push that brand, you should make sure you beat out Menino at things that are new, like campaigning/marketing be engaging rather than broadcasting. I tried to frame that general issue within image of new vs. old technology he pushes and how his use of Twitter doesn’t match up. He claims he’s new and modern, but he’s campaigning in the old, broadcasting method.

I know politics is not about Twitter and campaigning, but that’s what we see now. How he manages his brand and campaign is a decent, though not ideal, indicator of how he’ll act as a mayor. He claims he’s modern, but where’s the proof?

By: Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:13:15 +0000

Are you complaining he is talking the tech talk but not walking it…or are you complaining his Twitter stream is one-dimensional?

Sorry to break it to you, Adam, but politics is not about Twitter and campaigning, depending on location, ought to include a Twitter strategy but not focus on it. When you consider many government agencies–from the U.S. Department of Commerce to Somerville City Hall–block access to twitter.com, why focus on building Twitter relations during the campaign when, if elected, that relationship may break?

You had me reading and nodding along when you talked technology. Once you focused the content on Twitter, I snored.

By: Adam Pieniazek

Adam Pieniazek — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:45:41 +0000

It’s not so much that his twitter stream stinks that upsets me, it’s that he brands himself as new technology but then doesn’t use new technology well. It’s just plain disingenuous. If he didn’t compare himself to an iPhone, it wouldn’t matter.

As for Menino, I’m pretty sure he has a base understanding of Twitter. Meaning he was presented with a high-level plan for what the staff would do with Twitter. Whether it goes beyond that to him actually telling his staff what to tweet, who knows, but would be a good question.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:12:27 +0000

I’m sick of his updates too, they’re terrible! Thanks for putting my frustrations into a comprehensive article. I usually just bitch.

Also, I wonder if Menino knows what Twitter is? That should be a debate question…