The Message is the Medium

06:00 PM Oct 14, 2009

Mulling (from a safe distance) the hilariously troubled rollout of GOP.com (recalling bygone tidings of its troubled conception), I couldn't help but think of Gavin Clabaugh's recent musings on social networks for organization-building.

the Question with a capital “Q”, is simple: "How can we raise money with these new social networking things?"

...

'Till now, I’ve had no ready answer for the Question. Nothing I say seems to satisfy — folks want the secret code.

Lean in a little closer. Today I'm going to tell you that answer.

Here it is: the secret decoder ring, the magic ingredient, the answer to the Question of how to raise money with online social networks. Ready?

Step One... First, you get yourself an Obama.

Wait... Don't hit that big "X" ...

I say this with all seriousness. First you get yourself an Obama. That's the secret of the Obama campaign. It was Obama — not Facebook, not Twitter, and not the bevy of would-be Dick "Bite-me" Morrises or the myriad of MoveOn's anxious to fill up your inbox, dance across your Facebook page, or displace Ashton Kutcher in the Twitterstream of useless things in 140 characters.

The real secret is this: It's never the tools, it's the content. It's never the medium, it's the message.

Or as Bush pere put it, meta-signifying through all that governance crap, "Message: I care."

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