Fleshy Handshakes vs. Virtual Handshakes

Alan Rosenblatt — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:50:49 -0500

Declan McCullagh suggested yesterday that it was the offline efforts, not the online efforts that won the day in New Hampshire Tuesday:

"In other words, it was anything but high-tech. Sure, there were robo-calls and e-mail alerts, but, for the most part, the local events that convinced voters to pick Clinton and McCain could have been convened at any point in the last century."

While I agree with Declan's argument that face-to-face interaction between candidates and voters is essential, there are clearly ways that the internet can enhance the success of these interactions. For example, online organizing on Facebook and MySpace can increase the attendence at offline town meetings. Recall one of Barack Obama's first rallies at George Mason University. Using Facebook to drive attendance, more than 10,000 people showed up to here him speak. Of course, many would have learned of the event without the Internet, but it stands to reason that the use of Facebook "kicked it up a notch."

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Fleshy Handshakes vs. Virtual Handshakes