Shame On You, John Edwards: The Exploitation Of Web Culture

It must seem like a small thing to the folks at John Edwards now-mothballed campaign for the Democratic nomination, but it pains me that the staff, and John Edwards, simply dropped out of the Twitterverse without even a parting goodbye.

'His' last post from five months ago (I put 'his' in quotes, since he probably was a proxy, sock puppet, phoney-baloney, old marketing identity, anyway):

Twitter / johnedwards, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

So, you opt to try to exploit the edglings by signing up to Twitter, and writing a blog, and all that newfangled web stuff, trying to mine the potential there with ersatz involvement and cheesy, inauthentic participation: cramming old one:many messaging into a conversationally rich environment.

Then, you drop out. And proof that it is totally bogus, you just stop. Bam. No 'thanks for the memories', no 'see you in the funny papers', and certainly no ongoing involvement, since after all, there really was no involvement involved.

Proof of old politics wolf in new politics sheep's clothing: they assume the ways of the new social web revolution as a means to come into contact with us, but when they lose (and maybe when they win, as well?) they drop the pretense of involvement, and go back to whatever they really believe in. Which is clearly not this new emerging whatever-the-hell-it-is on the web.

They will try to exploit web culture for their own purposes, but they aren't really engaged here.

What will Barack and Hilary do if and when their time comes, I wonder?

I haven't tracked Edwards closely since he dropped out. I had endorsed him early on, but really don't have much of a handle on him now, since among other things 'he's' not updating me via Twitter, and he's not on the op-ed pages any more. I know he hasn't endorsed a candidate -- perhaps angling for some deal with Obama and Clinton -- but no word to his former followers on Twitter.

Well, why should he: we are only 4,544 people. He's probably got more major contributors than that, who he called up and personally thanked them, etc., after giving up the race.

And it's not that I would believe that a tweet from John Edwards was authentic, really, if 'he' sent one. Something like 'Thanks for your efforts on my behalf. I am going to do XYZ now, and I hope to keep in touch.' Or something. Or something, 'John'.

So, I am not really surprised I guess, but I feel used, like having someone wipe their greasy hands on my tablecloth after I invited them to dinner in my house. Or a friend who moves away for a new career in a distant city, and then never, ever calls.

Just bad manners, at the best, and at the worst, a profound callousness and insensitivity to the mores of our teensy weensy web culture, here on the edge of everything.

I will post a link to this on Twitter, addressed to @johnedwards, but I don't believe he will read it. They've moved on, packed up the bumper stickers and pins, the banners and the posters; but we are still here, twinventing something based on true voice, and involvement, and a deepening sense of global commitment. Perhaps the pins and posters and banners are all a barrier, a sideshow, a distraction from something more important, anyway. But even if it was all shadowplay -- a closet drama -- I wanted a better ending. We deserved a better close to this chapter than that.

Comments

[Ryan Kuder]

There's a prevalent school of thought that says, "You can use social media however you see fit." But I disagree with them. I think that implied in "social" is some kind of two way street. There are participants, and then there are just users, and the users end up coming off as disingenuous. Which for someone like John Edwards can be problematic. I called out Seth Godin on a similar issue for hyping the virtues of Twitter for relationship building but not using it himself.

Imagine showing up at a party and trying to strike up a conversation with someone and them just staring blankly past you blathering on about themselves and ignoring everything you said. Then they turn and walk away from you...no words said. That's whats happening here.

[Ontario Emperor]

To be fair, it's impossible to hold a two-way conversation with thousands upon thousands of people. If Barack or Hillary or whoever is busy responding to @tweets, he or she won't have enough time to run the country.

That having been said, at least Ron Paul prepared a YouTube video when he withdrew from the race. And he used it to energize his people for future battles.

John Edwards' hope to do any such thing has long since passed.

[Todd Sieling]

I wonder what that one favorite tweet was. If it's truly old media thinking, it'll be one of his own.

[srini kumar]

Dude, his wife has cancer. You need to chill out.

How very ENTITLED of you to suggest that your own heroin fix must addict everyone else in the world. Your own participation in the blogosphere is a desperate hunt for traffic and eyeballs. John Edwards fought hard to get powerful and important messages into the world of mainstream debate. You argue that by abandoning Twitter, he's doing Twitter a disservice, but you yourself sound eerily like the "scene police" that ruined punk rock in the late '90s.

[Rick calvert]

Great post Stowe. It won't make me many friends in tech circles but John Edwards always struck me as a phony. Ron Paul my be crazy as a bed bug but the guy is "authentic".

In Edwards defense he may not have known much about what was happening on his twitter account in the first place so maybe your scorn should be directed at some unknown "web strategist".

Still a very thought provoking post and most importantly you are demonstrating how we have a right to expect more from our political representatives and candidates. Social media gives us the power to demand more. We should be using that power while we can to hold politicians accountable.

[Rick calvert]

Great post Stowe. It won't make me many friends in tech circles but John Edwards always struck me as a phony. Ron Paul my be crazy as a bed bug but the guy is "authentic".

In Edwards defense he may not have known much about what was happening on his twitter account in the first place so maybe your scorn should be directed at some unknown "web strategist".

Still a very thought provoking post and most importantly you are demonstrating how we have a right to expect more from our political representatives and candidates. Social media gives us the power to demand more. We should be using that power while we can to hold politicians accountable.

[Josh Medeiros]

Try his website - he has a goodbye message there. And of course he had a national message on TV when he called it quits from New Orleans. He also sent letters saying goodbye to his supporters. I'll take a letter addressed to me over an impersonal twitter post any day.

Seems like you have a pretty high and unrealistic bar for how one is supposed to exit a campaign.

[stowe boyd]

Josh - I don't watch tv. I didn't get a letter. I wasn't suggesting that he should stop twittering, but when he did he should simply do the same thing there (here) that he did everywhere else. But it wasn't 'him' anyway, was it? It was the campaign machinery grinding along, and when it was no longer convenient they simply dropped the pretense.

Rick - My upset is directed at Edwards, but partly because I know that it was all a sham, where old politics pushes a 'message' through whatever 'channel' they can find.

Srini - Yes, Elizabeth Edwards has cancer. She and John decided to proceed with the campaign despite that. It's irrelevant. I supported Edwards, stated that his policies were the best. It's not a bout his politics, but his manners, really. It's not about why I am involved in the web, which not a desperate anything: I am a denizen here, I live here, and have been doing so for a long time. But Edwards isn't: he came here to drum up our support, and when he closed the campaign he didn't follow through using the ways that he exploited to connect with us. Just gracelessness. I think he's a good man, but impolite in this instance.

[CyberCitizen]

Chill, please. His father-in-law declined and passed away only last month. He was busy getting Elizabeth's agenda squared away. Now he's getting how own ducks in a row...looking for a job/role with more meaning, turning down media interviews, etc.

[NCDem Amy]

How melodramatic... What a pity that the Edwards for President campaign did not post, what you consider a proper goodbye, on twitter.

No matter that the Edwards campaign is the only Presidential campaign to have reached out to the netroots to the capacity they did and that Elizabeth continues to communicate with netizens.

Elizabeth Edwards IS a blogger and has been for a very long time.

But, a so called proper good bye on twitter discounts all of that. pfft!