How Not to Persuade Undecided Voters

I have Facebook and Google+ friends from all over the political spectrum:  Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals.  Some posts have helped me to be a more informed voter.  Discussions have helped me to clarify some of my own opinions and viewpoints.

I get the impression that many of my contacts never have conversations with anyone who has political views different than their own.  This is a mistake if they want to convince undecided voters to vote for candidates that they support.  Each side thinks the other side is crazy or deluded.  The undecided voters may be undecided because they believe that Democrats and Republicans are equally crazy and deluded.

My advice for people who want to use Facebook, Google+ or Twitter to campaign for a political candidate is to think about what you post.  I have seen posts that may have the opposite effect than the one the poster intends.

If you want undecided voters to vote for Barack Obama, it may not be a good idea to remind them that John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 instead of Mitt Romney.  They may believe this was a mistake.  We are not over racism, neither are we over sexism or age discrimination.

If you want undecided voters to vote for Mitt Romney, you may not want to list the corporations Mr. Romney has helped to succeed.  They may have issues with Burger King or Burlington Coat Factory.  Many people perceive Mr. Romney as out of touch with the common person because of his wealth.

Childish posts about how the candidates performed in the debate may cause undecided voters to vote against your candidate.

If you already know that anyone who gets elected to office will be a corporate puppet, please do not discourage your Facebook friends from voting.  Convincing people that their vote does not count is how the plutocrats were able to take power a long time ago.  The Internet in general and social media in particular provide tremendous opportunities to help people become informed voters and get involved in the political process.  Encourage them to attend caucuses, help draft party platforms, run for local office or even establish new political parties.  If all of us participated in politics, we might have better candidates running for office and have a government that represents people instead of money.