Beyond 495

There are so many special elections going on that I cannot keep track of all of them. Candidates jump into races. Candidates jump out of races. It’s very nice to see candidates make the effort to engage with bloggers, and in the spirit of wanting to be helpful, I offer this free unsolicited advice.*

Introduce yourself. Be friendly. Be present. If the post is going out on a blog with your name on it, make sure it’s you who wrote it. There’s no shame in having a staffer write your posts, it’s just good blogger etiquette to disclose who’s actually doing the writing. (and, uh, we usually find out anyway…)

Don’t drop off press releases disguised as blog posts. That’s considered a “drive-by” post, and it’s bad blogging form. Oh, sure you get to put out your talking points, brag about how much money you’ve raised so far, or tout your hard work to pay for a bridge (or insert your pet project here), there just isn’t much of an opportunity to interact. By all means pimp your pet project, but ask me my opinion — AND come back and answer questions. Blogging is in interactive medium. Interactive being the operative word here.

What’s worse than a drive-by post? A drive-by post with a plea for money. Some of us have more time to give candidates than money, and also? We’re not ATM machines. By all means link to your ActBLUE page, just don’t get too over-dramatic with the pitch.

In blogging, your comment history directly reflects on your credibility. Example: If you have spent the time to be a thoughtful participant in a blogging community, when you post a comment about a candidate your opinion is held in higher regard than someone who shows up out of nowhere, and their first (and sometimes only) comment is only to publicize, boost, or otherwise promote their candidate. Sometimes for money. See: Astroturfing If said person does this with several made-up user accounts, that is known as a sock puppet.

It’s not a smart thing to do, and generally gets found out. Most blogging platforms these days collect IP addresses. Just sayin’.

And finally, something to keep in mind: Google has a very long memory. Google yourself. Be prepared to deal with the results. Be prepared to be asked questions about the results, and more importantly, be prepared to answer those questions.

See you around the interbunny.

*You get what you pay for. Your mileage may vary.