For a long time now the internet has been a serious concern as we talk about how to combat ISIS given their sophisticated & attention-grabbing outreach via social media. In our own presidential primary we have seen how the GOP presumptive nominee, Donald Trump has successfully deployed Twitter giving himself critical PR & saving himself millions of dollars in the process. This past week, however, we saw the Democratic House members upgrade their use of social media in a new & creative way allowing the internet to emerge as an entirely different but exceptionally useful tool.
Internet Publicity Takes Its Place In Our Political Process
When the democrats in the house decided to stage a "sit-in" over the need for a vote on "no-fly, no-buy gun control legislation, the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) believed that giving their stand publicity was somehow not in the public interest. Apparently, he didn't believe that his colleagues were in the process of doing the people's business mostly because he disagreed with them so he killed the cameras. To be fair, cameras in the House have long been controversial for both sides of the aisle but in my view, no matter which party holds the gavel, they should always favor the people's right to know. Absent cameras, the democratic legislators were undaunted. They simply whipped out their smartphones, turned on their Twitter feed & live streamed video of their sit-in via Periscope which is Twitter's outstanding video platform,.which made a far more compelling piece of media coverage than just CSpan who eventually picked u[p their feed anyway. Unfortunately for Ryan, the democrats got more publicity, making his maneuver look small, petty & very partisan. Leaving the merits of the gun argument aside, the savvy move underscores the power of the medium in our political process.
Why Does It Matter
Why bother covering this story in a business blog? Well beyond the fact that I always try to glean relevant takes for business from political events, as the saying goes, "what's good for the gander is good for the goose" If you are a small business with a story to tell but can't seem to get the attention of traditional media, now you too can seize the moment utilizing your smartphone to get yourself instant media coverage through platforms like Periscope, YouTube, & Meerkat
*Photo courtesy Of Karlls Dambrans
