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What You Need to Know about Dig South and the Southeastern Knowledge Economy

April 25, 2013 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Arc 3 Communications recently attended the first annual Dig South Interactive Festival in Charleston, SC. The festival was launched to celebrate the Southeastern knowledge economy and show that Austin, Boston and Silicon Valley have nothing on the creativity, innovation and culture of the South. Charleston, with its “Silicon Harbor” community of startups was the perfect place to host this rival festival to Austin’s SXSW.

The Southeastern knowledge economy is clearly an underdog in today’s tech economic development space race, but events like Dig South help to highlight the potential that places like Charleston have in developing technology and creative industry startups. It remains a little known fact, that a lot of startups are created in the Southeast but eventually leave for Silicon Valley for additional funding. This fact is widely acknowledged by Southeastern economic development leaders, and efforts like Dig South reflect the need to stop this flow of startups to outside of the region.

The assets of the Southeastern knowledge economy were on full display at Dig South. On the first day participants were able to go on a “Studio Strut” of some eleven creative studios in Charleston. Many of these studios lined the city’s fabled King Street, and were full of creative people in graphic design, digital and marketing who loved their companies’ large co-working studios. These creatives were reflective of the South’s long tradition of artistry exemplified by writers such as Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy and William Faulkner. The culture of the South is unique in places like Charleston, and is a draw for young creatives who essentially can choose to live wherever they like in today’s digital economy.

Like SXSW, Dig South had a strong musical component. Attendees could “Dig In” with some quality bands in country, indie rock and rhythm and blues. Birthplace of both R&B and the Grand Ole Opry, the Southeast’s musical prominence was reflective in the smorgasbord of bands from Danger Muffin to Roscoe Bandana to Lee Fields and the Expressions. For creatives whose work often thrives with the sounds of music, the fullness of the Southeast’s musical culture is a compelling case for living, working and playing here.

The biggest draw for Dig South was of course the interactive conference. Charleston was clearly a draw for some quality presenters, moderators and panelists. Attendees were treated to a wide range of speakers and panelists including from Facebook, Twitter, CNN.com, HNLtv.com and Contently. The keynote speaker Robert Tercek, Chairman of the Creative Visions Foundation provided an insightful talk about innovation and the future of media.

However, a true testament to the knowledge economy of the South was the quality presenters who were local, such as Steve Parker, founder of Levelwing, the staff of Garden and Gun Magazine, and executives from Blackbaud, PeopleMatter and Benefitfocus. The local presenters exemplified why the Southeast has long been a hub for technology and innovation. The South is home to a strong aerospace and space industry consisting of Lockheed Martin, Boeing and NASA; a strong automotive industry with companies like Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Kia, and Volkswagen; and a cable media industry with powerhouses such as CNN, Turner Broadcasting and The Weather Channel. The South’s history of innovation began with strong public land grant technologically based universities and world renown research facilities such as the Centers for Disease Control, the Research Triangle Park, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For engineers and technologists looking for a place steeped in the modern history of technology and innovation, the South is a natural draw.

The successful Dig South Festival showed that South’s rich culture of creativity, technology and innovation is the springboard for a knowledge economy that will continue to produce and grow many new startups. For those in the creative, tech, media and digital industries, block out next year’s trade show calendar and save the date for Dig South 2014 on April 9th to 13th in Charleston. You will be glad that you did.

The Effectiveness of Political Social Advertising

March 30, 2013 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Political advertising in national and statewide races has historically been dominated by large media buys on television. Of the billions spent on election ads, a small percentage has been spent on social media advertising, but that is about to change. Voters have gone off the grid.

In election 2012, over 40% of likely voters preferred other video sources to live TV, including laptop or PC and streaming devices such as DVD and DVR. The majority of live TV watching was sports related. The average time spent watching video was still high at almost 20 hours a week, but nearly half of that time was not spent on live TV. Also, nearly half of likely voters owned a smartphone and 32% of likely voters owned a tablet.

We are moving to a new advertising paradigm in politics, and social advertising is a key part of it. With candidates using Twitter and Facebook to stay connected with voters, keep up on news and contrast themselves with opponents, paid social is a natural fit for politicians. Social advertising is powerful as voters spend on average 10 hours per week on social apps and interest graph targeting helps candidates zero in on key voters. In the time that it takes to create 1 political 30-second spot, 15 paid social campaigns can be launched. These social ads can be created from breaking news and events in real time.

While Tumblr and LinkedIn offer ads, the overwhelming majority of social advertising is on Twitter and Facebook. Both Twitter and Facebook ads have proven to be effective in the area of politics.

Facebook messages have been shown to be an effective tool in get-out-the-vote efforts. In the prestigious journal, Nature, political scientist Dr. James Fowler found that a single get-out-the-vote message could produce a 2.2 % bump in voter turnout. More importantly, 80% of the impact came from friends sharing the message with others. This is the first definitive proof that social networks, as opposed to television or radio, have uniquely powerful political benefits. As Facebook bleeds into older demographics, campaign messages could have a much larger impact than the study found. Another key finding of the study was that candidates need users to voluntarily share the ads and messages with their friends for maximum effectiveness.

Many campaigns initially used basic Facebook Marketplace type ads, with a 25 character title, and a 90 character body, a 100 x 72 pixel image, which are the least ideal message delivery vehicles on Facebook. However a growing number of campaigns have found greater success at using ad units such as “Like” ads and sponsored stories, which encourage both current and potential fans to interact with page content. Facebook has also recently allowed ads to be placed directly into Newsfeed which has resulted in better results.

Mitt Romney’s campaign for President utilized Facebook mobile ads last election cycle. These ads, which showed up in a Facebook user’s news feed, linked to Governor Romney’s page and indicated which friends were fans of the candidate. Zac Moffatt, digital director of Governor Romney’s campaign, claimed a remarkable click rate of 10% among people who viewed the ads.

Twitter ads have been proven effective to drive get-out-the-vote messages and target voters. Political campaigns are spending on the “promoted tweet,” which looks like a regular Twitter post and which advertisers pay to have show up at the top of a stream of tweets, or to people who might not see the tweet otherwise. Other political Twitter ads that may be placed are for Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends. Like business ads on Twitter, political ads are clearly labeled as promoted with a purple promoted icon and information about who has purchased the ad. Based on demand from political campaigns, Twitter has allowed advertisers to tailor paid messages to people by state or region.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who faced Milwaukee’s Mayor Tom Barrett in an historic recall election in 2012, used Twitter political ads successfully. Governor Walker’s campaign utilized Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts to drive a get-out-the-vote message to targeted voters and influencers. The Walker campaign’s use of Promoted Tweets drove voters to landing pages with details on the Governor’s stance on key issues and strong calls to action to pledge to vote. A week before the election, Governor Walker’s campaign also used Promoted Accounts to grow followers among targeted influencers who could help spread the campaign message through retweets. Governor Walker’s Promoted Tweets campaign garnered an average engagement rate of 6%. In addition, the Governor increased his followers from 16,600 to over 23,000 with his Promoted Accounts campaign. Overall his Twitter ad campaign reached 946,000 potential voters. Governor Walker’s effective use of social advertising was a key component in mobilizing voters in his defeat of a recall.

The use of social advertising by political campaigns will continue to increase. Social ads are an attractive selling point to campaigns looking for a way to maximize their impact for little cost. However, these ads should only be run as a part of a larger digital strategy that promotes great content such as a video, an image or interactive experience. Great content and socials ads to promote it is a winning combination for candidates that have a need to get their message out in a cost effective way.

The Top Ten Most Social Media Savvy Grassroots Organizations in America

February 28, 2013 By Patrick L. Burns 1 Comment

The recent legislative battle over the SOPA bill between the Motion Picture Association of America and the technology industry highlighted the evolution of tactics in advocating for or against legislation and policies. The Motion Picture Association of America pursued traditional lobbying tactics, while the technology industry mobilized their grassroots supporters via social media and the internet to support the cause of internet freedom. The technology industry’s victory over the Motion Picture Association of America last year showed the effectiveness of grassroots organizations united behind a cause and its anniversary was marked this year as Internet Freedom Day.

Grassroots organizations with their organic nature and individual member support for specific causes stand to grow in influence and benefit from the advent of social media as an advocacy tool. Social media as a platform is most conducive to the passionate and intense nature of grassroots organizations and the causes that they support.

Arc 3 looks at the top ten most social media savvy grassroots organizations. The list was compiled analyzing the Klout Scores and number of Twitter and Facebook followers for the largest and most powerful grassroots organizations in the country.

1. National Rifle Association (Klout Score 89) – Few groups match the grassroots-powered influence of the NRA, which faces an intense fight with the Obama administration over its push for stronger gun control laws in the wake of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The NRA has a strong social media network to mobilize and inform its members with over 131K followers on Twitter and 105K likes on Facebook.

2. Sierra Club (Klout Score 88) – The Sierra Club has spearheaded strong opposition to the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline with a solid team that includes Dave Hamilton, leader of the group’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, and Melinda Pierce, a veteran of the fights over Arctic drilling. The Sierra Club is one of most savvy social media grassroots groups with 183K likes on Facebook and over 58K followers on Twitter.

3. FreedomWorks (Klout Score 86) – Despite the recent departure of its former Chairman Dick Armey and the turmoil that ensued, FreedomWorks continues to exert considerable influence as a grassroots organization advocating for economic freedom. With over 98K followers on Twitter and 4.2 million likes on Facebook, FreedomWorks is a force to be reckoned with in the social media space.

4. Natural Resources Defense Council (Klout Score 86) – With over 1.3 million members and online activists, the NRDC is a strong force in opposition to the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. David Hawkins of their group is considered one of the top experts on global warming. With over 81K followers on Twitter and 195K Likes on Facebook, the NRDC is a social media powerhouse.

5. The Wilderness Society (Klout Score 84) – With legislative efforts led by David Moulton, a former top adviser to Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the organization is a strong advocate on climate change policy as well as conservation. The Wilderness Society has a solid social media presence with over 21K Followers on Twitter and 34K likes on Facebook.

6. Public Citizen (Klout Score 83) – Co-founded over 40 years ago by Ralph Nader, the group has focused heavily on campaign finance reform and the passage of ethics reforms in Congress in recent years. With over 14K Twitter followers and 23K likes on Facebook, Public Citizen has an agressive approach to social media in the tradition of its founder.

7. Human Rights First (Klout Score 83) – Led by Elisa Massimino, the organization is focused on keeping individual liberties front and center as the United States grapples with the changes that are sweeping the Middle East. Human Rights First has over 23K followers on Twitter and 33K likes on Facebook and a social media presence that helps the organization to highlight its many human rights concerns around the world.

8. Americans for Tax Reform (Klout Score 82) – Led by Grover Norquist, the father of the anti-tax pledge signed by most congressional Republicans, the group has been tested by members of Congress who are looking at tax increases and elimination of deductions as a way to shore up budget deficits. Americans for Tax Reform has over 14K followers on Twitter and 39K likes on Facebook and a social media network that could create a firestorm for any member of Congress who abandons their anti-tax pledge.

9. National Wildlife Federation (Klout Score 80) – Jeremy Symons, who previously handled climate issues for the EPA and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) serves as top political strategist for the influential conservationist lobby. Recognized as one of ” Top 5 Enterprises Using Social Media” by Mashable in 2010, the National Wildlife Federation has shown a commitment to social media to help raise awareness and build community. It currently has 125k Twitter followers and 118k likes on Facebook.

10. American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (Klout 80) – President Obama will visit Israel in March for the first time as President. However, the relationship between the Obama administration and Israel has been rocky. Former diplomat, Bradley Gordon and current top lobbyist for AIPAC, will have to use all of his negotiating skills to get the administration more in sync with Israel. With over 17K followers on Twitter and 36K likes on Facebook, AIPAC has a social media prowess that can exert pressure on members of Congress and the Obama administration at key moments in time.

At the early part of 2013, these are the top ten most social media savvy grassroots organizations. In the upcoming months, innovation in social media by grassroots groups will drive up their membership and result in legislative and policy victories. A grassroots organization’s effectiveness will depend on their creative use of social media to mobilize and educate their members and the media.

The Top Ten Most Social Media Savvy Trade Associations in America

January 30, 2013 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

With the inaugaration of President Barack Obama and the convening of the U.S. Congress, the business of governing truly begins in earnest. With the business of governing, comes the creation and passage of legislation and policies that affect important constituency groups. Some of the most powerful constituency groups are those that represent specific industries that employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. The “trades” that these associations represent vary from sectors such as high technology to small business to health care and energy.

With the widespread adoption of social media by elected officials, the media and the public; social media has become a critical part of the advocacy toolkit for trade associations. The recent legislative battle over the SOPA bill between the Motion Picture Association of America and the technology industry highlighted the evolution of tactics in advocating for or against legislation. The Motion Picture Association of America pursued traditional lobbying tactics, while the technology industry mobilized their grassroots supporters via social media and the internet. The technology industry’s victory over the Motion Picture Association of America last year sent shock waves through the K street community that they must evolve and change.

How have they done? Arc 3 looks at the top ten most social media savvy trade associations at the start of 2013. The list was compiled analyzing the Klout scores and number of Twitter and Facebook followers for the largest and most powerful trade associations in the country.

1. National Federation of Independent Business (Klout score 81) – Led by Dan Danner, this organization promotes fewer regulations and lower taxes. Despite seeing its challenge to the Democratic healthcare law fall short, the NFIB is one of the most social media savvy trade associations in the country with over 34K followers on Twitter and 171K likes on Facebook.

2. American Bankers Association (Klout score 81) – Led by Frank Keating, the former governor of Oklahoma, the ABA has evolved its communication strategies and embraced social media during a time of upheaval for their industry. The ABA has over 13K followers on Twitter and 1K likes on Facebook. The ABA’s high Klout score is attributed to it constant updates, as its Twitter account has over 10K Tweets.

3. Business Roundtable (Klout score 79) – Led by John Engler, a former Michigan governor, the corporate leaders of the Roundtable support a lower corporate tax rate and more trade deals. The Business Roundtable has over 12K Twitter followers and 13K likes on Facebook and a steady stream of tweets and posts to inform the media and its members.

4. U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Klout score 69) – Tom Donohue leads a powerful business advocacy group which donates millions of dollars to business-friendly candidates every election cycle. The Chamber is also a digital powerhouse with over 312K likes on Facebook and over 97K followers on Twitter.

5. National Retail Federation (Klout score 67) – NRF’s communications efforts are led by Bill Thorne, a former senior director for advocacy and outreach at the Walmart Corporation. Thorne has built a strong digital effort for the association as it pursues the passage of a national online sales tax. The association’s over 16K followers on Twitter and over 4K likes on Facebook are competitive with its online sales tax opponents in the technology industry.

6. National Restaurant Association (Klout Score 66)- Led by Dawn Sweeney, the restaurant trade group has expanded its policy and digital efforts. With over 11K followers on Twitter and 13K likes on Facebook it is clear that the association has picked up some social media tips from its member restaurants who have long been in the business of creating brand evangelists.

7. National Association of Realtors (Klout Score 66) – Led by longtime NAR veteran Dale Stinton, this association has battled a brutal housing market and a Congress considering housing finance reform. The association has solid digital resources to back its legislative efforts with 62K followers on Twitter and 109K likes on Facebook.

8. American Medical Association (Klout Score 65) – Led by Dr. James Madara, the AMA has gained bi-partisan support and is working to replace a Medicare payment formula that threatens doctors with drastic cuts. To build support for its efforts the association has a strong social media presence with over 269K followers on Twitter and 26K likes on Facebook.

9. American Wind Energy Association (Klout Score 63) – Led by Rob Gramlich, this association recently saw Congress extend an industry tax incentive that has led to explosive growth in wind power. AWEA has the wind at its back with a social media presence that has over 43K likes on Facebook and over 22K followers on Twitter.

10. National Association of Home Builders (Klout Score 63) – Led by Jerry Howard, this association’s primary goal is to defend the mortgage interest deduction amidst members of Congress who may see its elimination as a potential way to alleviate budget deficits. NAHB has a solid social media presence with over 16K followers on Twitter and over 28K likes on Facebook.

At the start of 2013, these are the top ten most social media savvy U.S. trade associations. The list is dominated by traditional industry associations that have strengthened their social media presence for what will be a very tough year in the Congress as the budget deficit looms over all discussions. Difficult times will require associations to be innovative in their mobilization and education of members about important and timely legislation and policies that could alter the course of the industries that they represent.

The Top Ten Most Social Media Savvy U.S. Politicians

January 11, 2013 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Social media played an important role in helping to secure the re-election of President Barack Obama in 2012. President Obama’s utilization of social media also played a key role in his defeat of Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and then Senator John McCain in the general election in 2008. In 2012, President Obama essentially took up where he left off in the last Presidential election and developed a decisive advantage in the area of social media over Mitt Romney. The Obama-Biden campaign’s utilization of social media for get out the vote efforts and its analysis of social data for the prediction of voter behavior, targeting of messages and media buying was truly remarkable.

But who are the other success stories in social media amongst politicians besides President Obama? Through the analysis of Klout Scores, Facebook Likes and Twitter followers amongst politicans across the country, Arc 3 has compiled the top ten most social media savvy politicans. In order to qualify for the list you must either have held elected office or been a candidate for elected office within the last year.

1. Barack Obama (Klout Score 99): President Obama maintained a substantial lead in both Facebook likes and Twitter followers over Mitt Romney. By the end of the campaign, Obama had 22.7 million followers and 32.2 million likes, compared to Romney’s 1.8 million followers and 12.1 million likes. The Obama-Biden campaign’s posting of an image of Barack and Michelle Obama in an embrace, accompanied by the message, “Four more years” set two social media records, receiving more Twitter retweets (755,000) and Facebook likes (3.5 million) than any other post in history.

2. John McCain (Klout Score 92): The U.S. Senator from Arizona and former Republican Presidential candidate in 2008 shows considerable strength in social media, outscoring both Vice President Joe Biden and Mitt Romney. Senator McCain has 880,594 Facebook likes and 1.7 million Twitter followers. His independent streak and reputation for bluntness are highly suitable for the medium of social media.

3. Joe Biden (Klout Score 90): Vice President Biden’s social media presence benefited from being a part of a very gifted Obama-Biden campaign digital team. Vice President Biden had 555,571 Facebook likes and 116,900 Twitter followers. Biden is known to be prone to verbal gaffes in the real world, but his digital world is very disciplined and tame in comparison.

4. Mitt Romney (Klout Score 89): Throughout the Presidential campaign, Romney’s number of followers on Facebook and Twitter were greatly outpaced by President Obama. At the end of the campaign, Romney had 1.8 million followers on Twitter and 12.1 million Facebook likes. The President had 12 times more followers on Twitter and 2 times more followers on Facebook than Romney. It was not all bad news for Romney’s social efforts, as Romney’s Facebook strategies did at times have him leading President Obama in Facebook engagement with his “People Talking About This” numbers being higher.

5. Nancy Pelosi (Klout Score 89): The current Democratic leader in the House has a solid social media presence consistent with her wired constituents in her San Francisco Congressional District. Pelosi has 285, 926 Twitter followers and 67,776 Facebook likes.

6. Newt Gingrich (Klout Score 88): The former Republican House Speaker and Presidential candidate had one of the strongest presences on social media out of the Republican candidates for President in 2012. Winner of the first Republican Presidential primary in the South, South Carolina, Speaker Gingrich has 292,262 Facebook likes and 1.4 million followers on Twitter.

7. Jerry Brown (Klout Score 88): The current Governor of California, home of Silicon Valley, logically has a solid social media presence. He is very strong on Twitter with some 1.05 million followers and has 136,190 Facebook likes. Governor Brown’s followers prefer Twitter almost seven times more than Facebook. A former Presidential candidate who earned the nickname “Moonbeam”, there is no shortage of content on his Twitter stream.

8. John Boehner (Klout Score 87): The current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has strongly promoted social media over years amongst his GOP caucus members. Once issuing a press release entitled “PWNED: House GOP Dominates Twitter, YouTube, Social Media in Congress”, he has taken the lead and shown his members how to be social media savvy. (Note: PWNED is trash talk that means you “owned” your opponent). Boehner has 320,479 Facebook likes and 220,763 Twitter followers for his campaign accounts.

9. Ron Paul (Klout Score 86): The former Congressman from Texas and Republican Presidential Candidate in 2012 has a considerable social media following reflective of the passion his candidacy generated among tech savvy millenials and libertarians. Paul has over 1.1 million Facebook likes and over 200,300 Twitter followers.

10. Cory Booker (Klout Score 85): The Mayor of Newark, New Jersey utilizes Twitter as a way to hear constituent concerns. The Mayor’s twitter account has become a civic reporting system that has been a better platform for consituent’s voices to be heard than the actual telephone at City Hall. Mayor Booker has over 1.3 million Twitter followers and 128,137 Facebook likes. Many constituents in Newark say if you want a pothole fixed you need to tweet to him about it.

At the start of 2013, these are the top ten most social media savvy U.S. politicians. Will they maintain their status or will new leaders emerge and enter into the top ten? Arc 3 will be following closely to see who comes out on top at the end of what is certain to be a year of innovation and enterprise in social media and politics.

The Ohio Vote for President 2012: A Choice Between Michael Jackson and The Beatles?

November 6, 2012 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Is the vote in Ohio for President between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney really a choice between Michael Jackson and The Beatles? In a recent social data study by Arc 3 Communications of supporters for the two candidates for President, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, utilizing Facebook’s Wisdom app, it was revealed that despite a statistical deadlock in the polls, a cultural divide exists between the most ardent supporters for the two candidates for President in the state of Ohio.

With Ohio being the battleground state most likely to determine the Presidency, hundreds of traditional Presidential polls have been taken among Ohio voters to measure their candidate preferences. Polls have consistently reflected a very close race with the most recent poll by Rasmussen Reports reflecting a statistical tie among the candidates. However, through the use of Facebook social data, Arc 3 was able to identify a significant cultural divide among the most ardent Ohio supporters for the candidates for President that provides deeper insights into the race.

For the study, Arc 3 Communications examined the Facebook pages of the two candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney utilizing Facebook Wisdom app’s detailed demographic profile data and breakdown of page likes. Arc 3 analyzed Facebook Wisdom Network data on basic demographics; political ideology and interests; sources for news; interests in music, television shows and authors; sports favorites; and consumer choices. Among the key findings in each category:

Supporters of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have a four point variation along gender lines with more men supporting Romney and more women supporting Obama with slight variations in age and education level. However, significantly more supporters for Mitt Romney are married than supporters of Barack Obama.
The Obama and Romney groups break out along ideological lines with Obama supporters self-identifying as liberal and Romney supporters identifying as conservative.
Ohio supporters of the two candidates rely on very different news sources. Obama supporters’ favorite news source is National Public Radio, while Romney supporters prefer Fox News.
In the area of entertainment tastes, the candidates’ supporters differ in favorite musician/band, television show and book author. The Obama supporters favorite musician/band is Michael Jackson, while the favorite musician/band among Romney supporters is The Beatles. Obama supporters favorite television program is The Family Guy, while Romney supporters program of choice is House. Favorite authors for Obama and Romney supporters are Maya Angelou and James Patterson respectively.
A dichotomy exists in the preference for sports leagues – supporters of Obama are NBA fans, while Romney supporters are NFL fans. Obama supporters favorite sports team is the Cleveland Cavaliers , while Romney supporters favorite team is the Cincinnati Reds, with the Cleveland Browns being a very close second.
Both sides tend to agree in the area of prominent consumer choices, with both groups most favorite food and beverage product being Starbucks and favorite retailer being Walmart. Favorite restuarant of choice among both groups is Subway.

While the many traditional polls conducted by various media outlets, universities and polling firms have left the American electorate stumped and full of trepidation as to the outcome of the race in Ohio, the additional layer of Facebook social data offers deeper insights into the race. The social data reveals preferences not only in ideology but attitudes toward cultural issues. Obama supporters clearly have cultural preferences indicative of urban tastes, while Romney supporters have cultural preferences indicative of suburban and exurban tastes. This points to and reaffirms the old adage in politics, that elections are truly about getting out the vote. If signs on election night point to high voter turnout in the urban areas of Ohio, such as Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County and Toledo’s Lucas County it may be a long night for Mitt Romney. However, if turnout is high in the suburban areas of Ohio such as Cincinnati’s Warren and Butler Counties and Columbus’ Delaware County, Romney may be the next President of the United States. With Ohio being decided by just 262,000 votes in 2008, it will be vital that each campaign turnout their base in those areas of the state where they are the strongest in order to win.

Arc 3 Facebook Social Data Study Tables

Basic Demographics

	Barack Obama	Mitt Romney
Male	54%	58%
Female	46%	42%
Married	36%	60%
Single	41%	25%
Average Age	33	39
College Education	58%	60%

Political Interests (Most Likes)

	Barack Obama	Mitt Romney
Ideology	Liberal	Conservative
Political Organization	Obama for America Ohio	RightChange
Government Official	Rep. Marcia L. Fudge	John McCain

News Sources (Most Likes)


Media/News/Publishing	NPR	Fox News
Magazine	Movie Drawer	Weekly Standard
News/Media	Yahoo!News	Newsbusters.org

Entertainment Interests (Most Likes)


Television Show	Family Guy	House
Musician/Band	Michael Jackson	The Beatles
Favorite Author	Maya Angelou	James Patterson

Sports Interests (Most Likes)

	Barack Obama	Mitt Romney
Sports League	NBA	NFL
Sports Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cincinnati Reds
Athlete	LeBron James	Michael Jordan

Consumer Interests (Most Likes)

	Barack Obama	Mitt Romney
Food/Beverage	Starbucks	Starbucks
Retail and Consumer Merchandise	Walmart	Walmart
Restaurant/Cafe	Subway	Subway

What is your Klout Score? How Your Social Media Influence Matters

September 12, 2012 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

What is your Klout Score? Your Klout score is a two digit score that measures your social media influence. If you have a Twitter account in which you are doing public updates you have a Klout score. You can supplement your score by adding Google Plus, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Tumblr, Instagram, Blogger, WordPress, LastFM or Flickr to your Klout account. While Google has an algorithm that measures page rank, Klout has developed an algorithm to measure social media influence. Google has an algorithim that ranks the relevancy of every webpage, while Klout is working to measure the influence of every person online. Klout scores are calculated using variables that can include number of followers, frequency of updates, the Klout scores of your friends and followers and the number of likes, retweets, and shares that your updates receive. Interacting with someone who has a high Klout score also helps to increase your score.

The Klout Score algorithm was created by it’s founder, Joe Fernandez in 2008. Klout’s algorithm was little changed until October of 2011, when the algorithm was tweaked, most likely to more greatly account for Facebook as tool of influence. This caused a considerable uproar among technologists, who heavily dependent on Twitter, saw a dip in their scores. Many technologists clamored that Klout simply no longer mattered and was meaningless.

However, with the most recent change in the Klout algorithm last month, technologists are giving Klout a second look and liking what they see. Prominent tech blogger, Michael Arrington (formerly of TechCrunch) liked what Klout was doing so much that he proceeded to invest in the company. The new Klout algorithm takes into account more real world influence — through a combination of bringing in 12 times more data points everyday, and taking into account things like Wikipedia pages and weighting LinkedIn profile data higher.

The new Klout profile page for an individual also is a timeline of recent social media interactions — specific Tweets, status updates and Instagram photos that have resonated with people. It’s no longer just about how many Retweets an individual gets, but who Retweeted them, and how they did it. Did they add their own commentary? Was it a “via”? Or a straight RT? Some 400 factors play into the new score. It’s less a number, and more a social resume on one page. The new version of Klout is focusing not just on the number of measurement of influence but also shows which clever tweets or posts by an individual resonated the most with their followers.

Does your Klout score and the social media influence that it represents truly matter? The answer is indisputabley yes. Klout scores are entering into our everday lives, especially for those who travel and conduct business on the road. Airlines, hotels and retailers are starting to evaluate ways in which they can use Klout scores to identify brand evangelists of whom they wish to keep happy. Individuals with higher Klout scores will get aisle seats on airplanes, more spacious hotel rooms, and special discounts at big name retail stores. The enterprise software giant Salesforce.com has a service that lets companies monitor the Klout scores of customers. Those with higher Klout scores will get more attention and quicker service from customer service representatives determined to keep them from tweeting or posting negative comments to their many followers. Klout has nearly 2 billion API (application programming interface) calls per day from some 8,000 partners – frequently from customer call centers who want to know exactly who are the customers that are calling in.

Some of the most influential brand customers with Klout scores of 50 or higher are eligible for perks and gifts ranging from free smart phones to all expense paid trips to weekend test drives of automobiles. Klout has done 400 “Perks” programs that have given some 750,000 influencers special deals with no quid pro quo– only a hope that they’ll say something nice about a brand. Brand rewards for Klout scores are a reflection in the social media age of the special treatment that brands have given out for years to high profile names, the press, and individuals who have spent lots of money on the brand. Klout has democratized influence.

Beyond the perks, Klout is rating and showing people’s online influence on various topics so that others can learn from them. In addition it rewards individuals for their social media efforts by helping them to feel listened to on certain topics. In this way, Klout’s ranking system is working to build a better online community. In today’s social media age, those that push out interesting content are the new influencers, and after several attempts, Joe Fernandez and Klout appear to be on their way to develop a rating system for measuring social media influence that is accurate and matters.

Metro Atlanta Regional T-SPLOST Vote: A Choice Between NPR and Fox News?

August 12, 2012 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Was the Metro Atlanta Regional T-SPLOST referendum vote a choice between NPR and Fox News? In a recent social data study by Arc 3 Communications of supporters and opponents of the Metro Atlana Regional T-SPLOST referendum utilizing Facebook’s Wisdom app, it was revealed that a cultural divide existed between the most ardent supporters for and against the Metro Atlanta Regional T-SPLOST referendum.

Many traditional polls had been taken showing a partisan divide among voters for the regional T-SPLOST referendum. However, through the use of Facebook social data, Arc 3 was able to identify not only a partisan divide, but a cultural divide as well among the most ardent supporters for and against the referendum. This data shows a significant cultural divide on regional policy issues.

For the study, Arc 3 Communications examined the Facebook pages of the two most prominent pro and against T-SPLOST campaigns, Untie Atlanta (Citizens for Transportation Mobility) and Traffic Truth (Transportation Leadership Coalition) utilizing Facebook Wisdom app’s detailed demographic profile data and breakdown of page likes. Arc 3 analyzed Facebook Wisdom Network data on basic demographics; political party identification and interests; sources for news; interests in music, movies and authors; sports favorites; and consumer choices. Among the key findings in each category:

Supporters and opponents of the T-SPLOST referendum were evenly divided along gender lines with variation among age and education level. Significantly more of the opponents of the T-SPLOST were married than the supporters of the T-SPLOST.
Consistent with polling data, the T-SPLOST groups broke out along partisan lines with pro-SPLOST forces showing Democratic leanings and opponents of the T-SPLOST being Republican.
Supporters and opponents of the T-SPLOST relied on very different news sources. T-SPLOST supporters’ favorite news source was National Public Radio, while opponents preferred Fox News.
In area of entertainment tastes, T-SPLOST supporters and opponents differed in television, movies and tastes in book authors. T-SPLOST supporters’ favorite program was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, while opponents program of choice was House on the Fox Network.
While a dichotomy existed in preference for sports leagues – supporters of T-SPLOST were NFL fans, while opponents were NASCAR fans- both groups agreed that the Atlanta Braves was their favorite sports team.
Both sides tended to agree in the area of prominent consumer choices, with both groups most favorite food and beverage product having been Chick-Fil-a, and favorite retailer having been Target.

The partisan divide between advocates and opponents of the T-SPLOST was clearly evident in this Facebook study as it had been in traditional polling. However the social data reveals a much deeper story showing the cultural preferences that were identifiers not only of partisanship but also attitudes toward regionalism and policymaking. T-SPLOST opponents clearly had cultural preferences indicative of more suburban living, while the T-SPLOST supporters had more urban cultural preferences. This may have been at the heart of the transportation policy debate over what the Atlanta region should look like.

Arc 3 Facebook Social Data Study Tables

Basic Demographics

	Untie Atlanta	Traffic Truth
Male	60%	58%
Female	40%	42%
Married	49%	76%
Single	34%	20%
Average Age	36	49
College Education	58%	69%

Political Interests (Most Likes)

	Untie Atlanta	Traffic Truth
Political Party	Democratic Party of Georgia	Republican National Committee
Political Official	Barack Obama	Mitt Romney
Public Figure	John Lewis	Herman Cain

News Sources (Most Likes)

	Untie Atlanta	Traffic Truth
Media/News/Publishing	NPR	Fox News
Magazine	The New Yorker	Weekly Standard
News/Media	Yahoo!News	NewsBusters.org

Entertainment Interests (Most Likes)

	Untie Atlanta	Traffic Truth
Television Shows	The Daily Show	House
Movies	The Hangover	Atlas Shrugged The Movie
Favorite Author	Maya Angelou	Ayn Rand

Sports Interests (Most Likes)

	Untie Atlanta	Traffic Truth
Sports League	NFL	NASCAR
Sports Team	Atlanta Braves	Atlanta Braves
Athlete	Michael Jordan	Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Consumer Interests (Most Likes)

	Untie Atlanta	TrafficTruth
Food/Beverage	Chick-Fil-a	Chick-Fil-a
Retail and Consumer Merchandise	Target	Target
Hotel	St. Regis Atlanta	Chateau Elan Winery and Resort

Note: Untie Atlanta Facebook page analysis included analysis of Untie Clayton, Untie Cobb, Untie Cherokee, Untie Dekalb, Untie Douglas, Untie Gwinnett, Untie Fayette, Untie Fulton, Untie Henry, and Untie Rockdale Facebook pages

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