Better Real-Time Election Coverage on Twitter

Guest Column
by Sarah Hubbard
August 13, 2010

Supporters of social media have been putting traditional print reporting to shame for a few years now. The first picture of the plane that landed on the Hudson came from a bystander who posted it to Twitter. Twitter’s founders realized its potential to break news early on during a major earthquake in 2007 in Mexico. Last year, the messaging service beat mainstream news organizations to report earthquakes in the UK and China.

Beyond accidents and natural disasters, people are also using Twitter to get quicker information. The first results of many primary elections last week were posted on Twitter.

They’re also more interesting, because many of the political posts on Twitter are opinion driven. Advocacy groups such as the Detroit Regional Chamber use social media to drive public opinion of issues and to rally interested individuals to contact legislators in support of preferred policies. If you’re like me, you live a significant portion of your life, both work and play, online. Using the Internet is a daily occurrence.

Many of my friends traveled the state to attend last week’s election night celebrations, but I covered the event from my couch with the TV on, live Detroit radio streaming on my computer, making frequent checks of the Secretary of State and other websites covering returns. And, of course, my Twitter account was fully engaged.

When is the pound sign (#) more than just the key you push when entering your conference calling code on the phone? When it’s a “hashtag” on Twitter. By adding the “#” symbol before a word on Twitter, it makes that phrase searchable. As hashtags develop, you can follow entire conversations by searching for that phrase.

For the primary election, the tag was #MIPrimary. It appears this tag was promoted by the Detroit Free Press online and quickly adopted by followers. Nearly every Tweet about the primary included the #MIPrimary tag.

Twitter and Facebook were both sources of insider comments, candidate congratulations and condolences. A great source for Michigan politicos interested in the use of Twitter is: www.heshetheysaid.com. This new site aggregates various Twitter accounts into one easy-to-use feed that will give you coverage of the best of the best in Lansing.

Below are many of my Tweets from that Tuesday.

Early in the day, I Tweeted to my followers this messaging urging people to go vote and remember the Chamber-endorsed candidates. Many others were pressing similar get-out-the-vote Tweets.

S4Hubbard: Did you vote? @DetroitChamber endorsed @Rick4MI @Dillon4MI & @Bouchardforgov Pick one and go for it.

Also Tuesday morning, Andy Dillon’s campaign started sending out messages through all its friends to join in voting for Dillon. I Re-Tweeted Sen. Buzz Thomas’ message along those lines as follows. (RT stands for Re-Tweet, in which you send along someone else’s message to all of your followers on Twitter.)

S4Hubbard: RT @buzzthomas Please join me in voting for @Dillon4MI today! Andy has the right plan to get MI back on track!!

Another way to generate interest on Twitter is to pose a question. I Tweeted the following to try to get a conversation about the primary going. You can see I began using the #MIPrimary hashtag beginning with this Tweet.

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary If bad weather = low turnout, will today’s good weather = better turnout? I voted – did u?

Later in the day Ashton Kutcher Tweeted to his over 5 million followers this:

@Aplusk: What’s happening tonight in Detroit?

To which I replied:

S4Hubbard: @aplusk Parties for Dem Gubernatorial candidates at Westin & Atheneum (Greektown). I’m sure they’d love to see u #MIPrimary

Kutcher and wife Demi Moore were later spotted at the Tigers game and in the elevator of the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit. Moore is in Detroit now filming Scream 4. Kutcher’s frequent Tweets related to Detroit are creating significant local buzz.

Soon after the polls closed, local media started calling Bernero the Democratic primary winner and began to focus on Snyder as the likely winner. My Re-Tweet of The Detroit News Tweet along with a link to their online story is a common format used on Twitter.

S4Hubbard: RT @detnews @vbernero wins Dem nomination for governor, @rickformi Snyder leads GOP http://detne.ws/9LSgFQ #MIPrimary

Here’s an example of spreading results from races in the state and messaging behind our endorsed candidates:

S4Hubbard: @DetroitChamber supports Schuitmaker!! RT @kazoochamber Election UPDATE: MI Sen 20th – Schuitmaker 7095, Wenke 3908, DeShazor 2435 #MIPrimary

Another Chamber-supported issue:

S4Hubbard: RT @mptaonline Transit Millages in all areas reporting so far are off to big leads for approval, including SMART in Oakland and….#MIPrimary

And this as the results became clear:

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary Bernero vs. Snyder in Nov? I think the choice is clear for the biz community. Good luck @RickforMI

As victory speeches began, many in the Twitterverse covered the comments and action viewed on TV.

S4Hubbard: @VoteVirg taking call as live TV is waiting for acceptance speech!!! Rocky theme music needs to stretch…Mrs. Bernero doing nice job filling time. #MIPrimary

S4Hubbard: @VoteVirg Looks good – Graciously accepted @Dillon4Mi congratulations and concession. #MIPrimary

S4Hubbard: @VoteVirg needs a little energy drink. C’mon – u just won #MIprimary w/ less $$$ & less lead time. Show some excitement!

Here, my commentary on Mayor Bernero’s agenda:

S4Hubbard: @VoteVirg Can we stop class warfare? Not Main St. vs. Wall St, but What is good for Michigan Ave??? #MIPrimary

S4Hubbard: @VoteVirg “We’ll place a moratorium on home foreclosures.” Really?
Keep market artificially hi? Keep 1st time homebuyers out? @MIPrimary

I posted the following and was later corrected by campaign staff in the 1st Congressional District:

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary – Earlier night than expected. Recount lawyers can go to bed – won’t be needed. Closest race in a lifetime is a blowout

The loss of Congresswoman Kilpatrick was a big one in Detroit and resulted in lots of Twitter traffic:

S4Hubbard: RT @mlive_detroit Looks like it’s officially a wrap for Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick: http://bit.ly/cRxLHb #fb

S4Hubbard: @sclarkwxyz Who is winning in the 1st CD up north? #MIPrimary

S4Hubbard: @natebailey11 Where are results for those two? Having a hard time finding online. #MIPrimary

Below, Fred Wszolek is a campaign consultant for 1st Congressional District candidate Dan Benishek — I reached out to him to see how close the vote was in response to this Tweet:

FredWszolek: It’s going to be a great day for @Mike_Cox @DanBenishek and @runwithrooney. #MIPrimary

S4Hubbard: @FredWszolek Well, not so much for Cox & Rooney. How is Benishek doing?

And eventually received this response:

FredWszolek: @S4Hubbard plus or minus 20 some votes. Crazy close.

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary MI Sen Hansen Clarke knocks off Cong. Carolyn Kilpatrick – MI will no longer have a member on appropriations in Congress. #Oopsie

My thoughts during the Republican candidate Rick Snyder victory speech:

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary @RickforMI giving acceptance speech now. “New definition for a nerd now”

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary Watching live stream of @RickforMI – can u buy better microphones for the general?

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary @RickforMI “People who think our govt is broken…I want to represent you”

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary will @OneToughNerd have #Schoolyard bully as running mate? No more getting pushed in the locker!

The rest are pretty self-explanatory:

S4Hubbard: RT @natebailey11 36 votes separate Allen and Benishek in CD1 – 94% in. Every vote counts! #miprimary

S4Hubbard: RT @SenCameronBrown Congrats to my district rep, Nancy Jenkins, who is the GOP nominee for the 57th House seat! Let’s turn that seat red in Nov! #migop

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary Looks like my friend Bill Huizenga is going to Congress. Not done yet, but looking good.

S4Hubbard: #MIPrimary MI State Rep Justin Amash heading to Congress (probably). Avg age of delegation really coming down when u add in Huizenga.

Unfortunately, now that the primary is over, many candidates who used social media as a tool will abandon it to get back to their regular lives. I’ll continue to bring my thoughts and opinions to the twitterverse as the mood strikes me.

Sarah Hubbard is senior vice president, government relations, for the Detroit Regional Chamber. Read more about the use of social media in lobbying on Sarah’s blog, “Where Social Media and Lobbying Meet,” found at www.socialmedialobbying.com. Follow Sarah on Twitter at www.twitter.com/s4hubbard.