Palin and Facebook

Sarah Palin is using Facebook more effectively than just about any media brand is these days. And whatever you think of Palin, in her post-elected-office and pre-campaign-for-the 2012 republican presidential nomination mode, she is very much a media brand. So it's worth looking at how she's getting the word out.



She's certainly hitting all the right old media spots to promote her book, but more often than not she's using facebook to rally her rogue base. She's collecting "friends" or "fans" on facebook, the better to keep them abreast of everything she's doing. As of this morning she's got just shy of 1M "friends" who keep tabs on her via Facebook.

One you collect fans on facebook, you need to give them content, updates if you will. And for that Sarah Palin is using Facebook's blogging feature to toss red meat and lob grenades at enemies, all without anyone asking any questions of her.

Today she's attacking the old-line-New-York-journalism establishment, which breaks my heart but which is the way right-wing politicians like to discredit their opponents:

Amazingly, but not surprisingly, the AP somehow nabbed a copy of the book before it was released. They're now erroneously reporting on the book's contents and are repeating many of the same things they spewed during the campaign and afterwards. We've heard 11 writers are engaged in this opposition research, er, "fact checking" research! Imagine that – 11 AP reporters dedicating time and resources to tearing up the book, instead of using the time and resources to "fact check" what's going on with Sheik Mohammed's trial, Pelosi's health care takeover costs, Hasan's associations, etc. Amazing.

And here's Mrs. Palin's analsis of the Obama Adminstration's decision to try Al Queda conspiritors in a court of law. (Don't read it if you have heard of something called due process)

Facebook is effective for Mrs. Palin in two important ways. First, it lets her push out her something (like any blogging software would do) and just as importantly, it collects and distributes these ideas to her connected audience.

So say what you want about the content of her message and her role in the national debate, what's most interesting to me today is that Facebook is the platform for this commentary. It says an awful lot about how effective Facebook is at getting information out to your friends.