Web site helps candidates manage social networking

With the increasing use of social network sites, one might ask how/what is the best way to organize all the sites into one managable application? As government continues to increase the use of Web 2.0, presidential campaigns are confronting the challenge of how to organize their online presence in a way that maximizes impact and reach while not forgetting grassroots efforts. Presidential hopefuls have been using online community sites such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook to announce their candidacies and host forums. But now that they have burgeoning online presences on handfuls of different networks, the campaigns are looking for ways to connect their cyber supporters. Many candidates MyLifeBrand http://www.mylifebrand.com/ (currently in alpha form), a social network aggregator, for the answer. It lets members of different social networks and associated friends link to one another on one network.

The aggregator doesn’t affect the status of the original networks, letting the existing communities continue as they are. Daniel Scalisi, MyLifeBrand’s executive vice president, said that by building a branded community, candidates can benefit from an expanded network and increased control over their message.

But Joshua Levy, associate editor of TechPresident.com, a nonpartisan Web site that explores how politics and technology influence each other, warns that campaigns need to be careful not to alienate grassroots supporters. “The whole thing [with online social networking] is that it’s the supporters that control the message," he said. “If the message is handled in a top down way and you are not allowed to deviate people get very upset about that very quickly and they don’t want to participate.”