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The Lifestreaming President

Photo illustration credit: James Porto for New York Magazine.

This article in New York Magazine about President Obama's media strategy is a must read for any brand or individual that aspires to influence in the Age of the Stream. It speaks reams about how our media, culture and PR are all coping with the age of streams - starting at the top with the President of the United States.

The key takeaway for me was this - be ubiquitous and creative but know the risks.

Key quote...

"(Obama) recognizes that, in the same way a blog can’t survive on just one post a day, a presidency can no longer survive on one message per day or one press conference per year. Instead, you have to turn on a fire hose."

Yes, the President is a lifestreamer. And he's showing how it works and its risks.

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11 comments
Aug 08, 2009
Lani Pauli said...
Great post, Steve. As a consumer I find the fact that I can "tap into" the President's daily activities fascinating. Similarly, as a communications professional I have great admiration for his administration and advisors who are developing this strategy. It is certainly a first and perhaps a change of guard in how politicians engage with the greater public.
Aug 08, 2009
Brent Logan said...
According to http://followcost.com/BarackObama, the President isn't very active on Twitter. And am I the only one creeped out by the photo illustration?
Aug 08, 2009
Guy London said...
Yes, Brent. you are the only one. It's a brilliant illustration. But don't worry. IT'S NOT REAL!
Aug 08, 2009
Ralph Dratman said...
Brent, I don't think the illustration was supposed to be soothing. The contemporary media-blasted world is part fairytale, part prophecy, and part nightmare.
Aug 08, 2009
Jaky Astik said...
Wonderful as it gets. If you just keep posting, there is nothing that can happen to you or your blog. The market is getting tough, you know. But, the fire get to it. Just look at seth godin, darren rowse and leo, they have done it too.
Aug 09, 2009
Interesting post Steve, in India we have our own politician (you might be familiar with his name as he was a candidate for UN Secretary General) - Shashi Tharoor who is also media savvy - you can check out http://www.shashitharoor.com/ and http://shashitharoor.in/ and yes he's on http://twitter.com/shashitharoor

Fire hose... no doubt!

Aug 09, 2009
Mary Anne Davis said...
I think more will always be revealed. I appreciate the heads up, but a firehose of acid rain burns the trees to the ground. That is his approach and it may working today, but everybody has to say stuff that has meaning of some sort and advances our quest for life on Earth. He has to back up words with deeds. Just sayin'.
Aug 09, 2009
Paul Robinson said...
@codinghorror has been saying this for a while too. You gotta be noisy to get noticed.
Aug 09, 2009
Joe Buhler said...
Fascinating. The implications of this new media age on business should be equally clear.
Aug 20, 2009
Wil said...
The fire hose analogy is perfect because it illustrates a problem that may arise at one of the extremes: drowning your target audience with too much information to reasonably process.

It's important to keep in mind that "relevance" is crucial in communication, and if this 'fire hose' idea is the trend, it should incorporate an efficient system for filtering the stream based on the audience (probably at the audience-level).

Aug 20, 2009
Wil said...
And I just noticed the date for this post. Oh well, I was a bit behind on my feeds...

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Steve Rubel

Steve Rubel

Steve Rubel (bio) is SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, a division of Edelman - the world's largest independent PR firm.

He is charged with helping clients identify emerging technologies and trends that can be applied in marketing communications programs. He also explores these topics on his lifestream site, a monthly Forbes.com column and in a bi-weekly AdAge column.

Steve can be reached via email at steverubel@gmail.com.

Note: Everything posted on this site is Steve's personal opinion. It does not represent the views of Edelman or its clients.

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