Social Networking and the Obama Campaign

Doug asked me in class last Thursday whether the Obama campaign using social networking in the presidential campaign was ethical or not (in the context of the IBM Value 2.0 article).



I said "Yes" at the time but didn't have many strong feelings on the subject.



I've been thinking more about it since, and I'm inclined to stick with that answer. I think that some of the things said by both candidates during the campaigns were certainly unethical. Both campaigns abused and spun the facts in their bids to win over the American people, and I definitely find ethical issue there. Too bad "truth in advertising" doesn't extend to political campaigns...



On the subject of tapping social networking for campaign purposes, I find no ethical issue. Social networks are where the people are, especially young people. For political campaigns to tap social networks seems like an update on traditional canvassing to me. In fact, I think social networks have the potential to get more people involved more deeply in the process of governing. I would say the use of social networks by the Obama campaign is an innovation (intersection of technology and business) in political campaigning.

-Chris