Mitt Romney and Chick-Fil-A don’t have a social media problem



Contributing Writer
Photo: Rooster Credit: Erik Jager


This weekend, Mitt Romney’s social media presence took off to the tune of 100,000 new followers on Twitter.  The problem: the velocity was unprecedented and there was no apparent impetus for the increase” Romney suspended his campaign in respect to the victims of the Colorado shootings.  This isn’t the first time that Romney has allegedly purchased Twitter followers.  In the primaries only a quarter of his followers were shown to be actual people.

Last week, Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy was questioned about millions of dollars of donations made to churches committed to opposing gay marriage asserted that he was “guilty as charged.”  Campaigns to boycott Chick-Fil-A were started at petition sites and through social media (particularly Twitter).

Here’s the commonality between the two: both Romney and Cathy were reported to have a “social media” problem.  I find this assertion quite absurd.  After all, if these issues were reported on network news, they wouldn’t have a “mainstream media problem” – they would simply have a problem.  And they do.  Romney’s team doesn’t seem to grasp some basic social media concepts and Cathy deliberately alienated a portion of his customer base (making an assumption about sexual orientation being irrelevant to fast food consumption).

My wife and I met on match.com.  Very commonly we’ll get a look of skepticism when we tell people this and it conjures the same sense of perplex that I have with labeling things a “social media problem.”  Is our relationship diminished because we met online?  Nope.  Our relationship wouldn’t be qualitatively better or worse if I had approached her at a bar or at church, yet somehow attaching that online element adds some irrelevant and unnecessary context to it.

Online dating is to relationships as social media is to problems as Paul Revere is to the British coming (I’m writing from Boston and couldn’t resist): A is how you are aware of B.  It’s that simple.   Once we understand social media as a means to an end (be that conversation, action, whatever) and stop seeing social as an entity capable of good and evil, you can utilize it to do your bidding.  Like finding more followers or issuing apologies to communities you’ve upset.

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

Writer and chief of miscellany at leaderswest.com

I aspire to give people something to think about rather than tell them what to do. My favorite Google Alert is “social media research,” I am increasingly compelled by Gen Z, and I appreciate good writers agnostic of where they write. At one time I was Kred’s 12th most influential social media blogger and Klout’s most influential person on the topic of David Hasselhoff. Transplant from Seattle living in Cincinnati. Haven’t entirely adopted the local sports teams yet.

Jim Dougherty

@jimdougherty

Writer about social media and tech at Leaders West, I also tweet as @leaderswest.

Infographic: Size isn’t everything when it comes to social platforms http://t.co/6k6E1cizgH – 14 mins ago

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

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  • http://vanbrown.wordpress.com/ Van Brown

    Well said, Jim. The categories of tunnel vision perceptions are often kept small because the viewer cannot adjust to reality without partitioning labels. For them, there is no big picture, though they may speak of one. It is also a way of controlling the perceptions of others. While Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln & Mark Twain are often quoted, none of them spent much formal time in schools. Today, those who would find a reason to question how you met your wife might also question any person’s opinion if they don’t see proper credentials attached to their names. That Romney or any politician would buy “followers” is no surprise, but such blatantly dishonest behavior is always a disappointment. The problem is not a social media issue, but it does smack a bit as an integrity issue. As for Mr. Cathy’s comments, I’ve said before that “Whenever a business takes a stand to declare the prejudices of its management, it is a business decision, good or bad.” Yet, the poor man thinks it is a moral decision. Shamefully, he knows very little of the teachings of the founder of his so-called religion, or else he chooses to ignore them. How sad that his problem is only seen by some to be a “social media” issue.

  • http://westfallonline.com Chris Westfall

    “Social media is not an entity capable of good and evil”…. so true, so true! The method of communication is simply a tool.

    Others may use that same adjective to describe Mr. Romney and Mr. Cathy.

  • http://www.biculturalmama.com Bicultural Mama

    Great insight here, and so relevant. By the way, I know plenty of people who met on match.com and are very happily married. Nowadays it’s so commonplace to meet people online since everyone basically has a computer.

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Maria! I’ve actually meant to share something with you – will shoot you an email.

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  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks Chris, there’s no write or wrong way to do things, but there are certainly qualitatively better ways to accomplish the things Romney and Cathy want to accomplish. And social media might be a smart resource to use for them to figure those out! Appreciate you reading and commenting!

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks, Van. I imagine both of these fellows thought that their behavior would be under the radar and it kind of blew up for each. Maybe the issue for either of them is simply that social media exists? Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

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