Quick Case Study : U.S. Secretary Mike Leavitt’s Blog

Whenever I am asked to give an example of a successful senior government executive blog, I tell people about Mike Leavitt, who is currently Secretary of Health and Human Services in the U.S. Federal Government. What makes it so different from other government blogs? Sec. Leavitt’s Blog is real. He takes the time to post at least once a week, albeit usually it’s from planes and hotel rooms. Sometimes he misses a post, sometimes he doesn’t answer comments, but you you know what, rather than just ignoring the issue, he’s honest about it and writes about how busy he is. Even though we all inherently know this already, him being open and honest about it adds a GREAT DEAL to the “real conversation” factor. His readers feel a true conversational relationship. He’s even written a post evaluating his blog by summarizing feedback he has received over the last few months and what he’s going to do to improve. Thanks to his willingness to experiment with social media, he has opened a door for regular citizens to talk with him one on one. Compare this with trying to arrange a personal meeting with someone of his stature in the “physical” world…

Why should he even bother you may ask? Is it not just more work? Well, my answer to you is that if you have that kind of stance and you work for the government (where service/program delivery based on citizen needs should be your prime concern), you are in the wrong job. That’s my two cents for the day…

The influence of Web 2.0 on American politics

I find it interesting that Social Media Networks show Barack Obama and Ron Paul as leaders for the Presidency (when using amount of “friends” as a popularity metric), whereas every traditional poll conducted recently shows Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani having commanding leads.

What are your thoughts on this?

Is it that the amount of people using online channels is far smaller and irrelevant? Does this prove that the amount of “friends” is meaningless? Maybe its the fact that Barack Obama and Ron Paul supporters are younger and/or have a more open attitude towards social media?

Personally, I think its a combination of factors. The main one being that Barack Obama and Ron Paul supporters have a particular radical attitude. They want change, they are influencers and trend setters in society, they are more liberal, they use new media channels, they want a new leader with the same mindset.

So why do traditional polls not show these candidates at the top while social media networks do? Simple: In terms of raw numbers across the nation, their supporters are still the minority even though they comprise the majority of actively engaged online users.

For more on this topic read this blog entry