Halls of power learn if you can’t control the conversation, join it

Thanks to social media, spin has spun out of the control of the spinmeisters. According to Macon Philips, one of the world’s foremost experts on the use of Twitter, Facebook, and other media tools in politics, “you can’t control the conversation anymore. You have to participate and get involved in what people are saying.”

Philips, a top social media expert, is director of new media for the White House and is in charge of the executive branch’s website, WhiteHouse.gov. Philips is in Israel to participate in Digit 2012, the first conference ever held here on digital journalism and the challenges facing news providers as they move from print to online formats.

At a press conference Monday at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, where Digit 2012 is being held, Philips described the challenges he faces “in getting the president’s message across.” While many people still get their news from television and newspapers, many are also utilizing sources like Twitter and Facebook. Thus, said Philips, “we need to be there” in order to ensure that people understand the issues as the White House does. (Philips clarified that his job is to get information about the president’s policies and opinions out to the public, not to stump for his reelection.)

If Barack Obama used social media as a gimmick to get young people’s support in 2008, he and his team are even more cognizant of its power and its challenges now. Thanks to the growth of Twitter and other services, Macon said, the news cycle is much shorter today than it was four years ago, and more difficult to supervise. “We are past the point where you can control the conversations out there. With the traditional media it was rather easy to stay on top of the conversation. Now there are so many conversations, and you have to stay on top of all of them. Otherwise, people will wonder why you are not a part of them.”

Those same challenges exist in Israel as well, said Nir Hirshman (Hebrew-language link), who works for Michael Eitan, the minister of improvement of government services. Hirshman has over the past several years been a pioneer of the use of social media in Israeli politics, helping to develop, among others, a site that allowed Israelis to provide input to the Trajtenberg Committee on social welfare that was established after last summer’s protests, and another site that allowed Israelis to comment on the state budget.

While many people in the US, including Philips, rely on Twitter to send out quick soundbites and drive readers to websites or video clips, Israeli politicians are more likely to rely on Facebook. “Many of the politicians in Israel are finally learning that they need to be on Facebook, because that’s where the people are,” Hirshman told The Times of Israel. “After all, Israel has the highest level of Facebook penetration in the world.”

But not all MKs and ministers use Facebook correctly. “Many of them are still just posting their press releases, content with a ‘presence’ that is just one way. But that’s not what users are looking for.” The smart ones respond to posts and engage with people who communicate with them. “Only straight talk works. You can’t have an online presence and expect people to swallow platitudes,” Hirshman noted.

It’s likely that social media will play an important role in the upcoming Israeli election, as it will in the US. How much of a role remains to be seen, however. “It’s going to depend on how the parties and politicians decide to spend their money, between television, newspapers, billboards, and the Internet,” said Hirshman, adding that politicians can get a lot of bang for their buck with online tools. For now, the lesson plans on how to use these tools most effectively are still being written by professionals like him and Macon Philips.