Obama's MySpace Drama

fistfullast33l writes "TechPresident, which is covering the use of technology by Presidential Campaigns for 2008, has a very interesting article on how Obama's MySpace page is currently the subject of an underground battle for control by the campaign itself and the volunteer who created it in 2004. Joseph Anthony worked with the campaign initially and grew the site to include over 160,000 unsolicited friends that the campaign could use to reach out to. It currently is the main Obama page in the Impact Channel on MySpace. However, as Obama's campaign became more centralized and formal, the decision was made to attempt to acquire control of the site from Anthony. They asked him for a price, which he offered up as $49,000 plus part of the $10,000 fee paid to MySpace for the Impact Channel. Obama balked at the price, and decided to start afresh rather than pay the money. The fight broke out into the open when Anthony posted a response on his blog to rumors that the campaign was spreading regarding him wanting to cash out. MyDD has more."

Comments

This is what happens

[tkrotchko]

This is what happens when an idealist gets mixed up with politics.

They say politics is like sausage. You can't simultaneously appreciate the taste of sausage and know how it's made.

Re:Obama's Space Drama

[vux984]

he did, based upon an approximated value of the time he spent on the profile this year. They scoffed, and went around him.

And if he were a paid professional in stead of a volunteer working on it, that would possibly even be fair value.

Suppose on a lark I bought a beat up motorcycle, and let you, a volunteer work on it for fun. Then one day I decide to race competitively, and offer to compensate you for your time.

So you calculate all the hours you spent on it, lookup what pro pit mechanics are paid an hour, and suggest I pay you for 800 hours at that rate. I'd probably 'balk' at that too.

Volunteers are usually paid nothing. The fact that the campaign was willing to buy him out was the right thing for them to do. Him deciding to value his volunteer time as if he were a contracted professional was probably out of line.

That said, I agree. Its unfortunate that it couldn't be resolved amicalby, but that's life.

Re:What did you expect?

[powerlord]

They are only now going to begin to discover the loss to there credibility, which could potentially be very damaging.

Well ... I think "we" should all help them figure out just how much they may have damaged their credibility.

If you're a MySpace user, after clicking on http://www.myspace.com/barackobama feel free to click on "Send Message" and let him know how you feel. :) (remember to keep things clean and expletive free). Hey, he's even "On Line Now!" so he might reply. ;)

Also, whether you Are or Are Not a MySpace user, feel free to click on "Block User". I'm sure those metrics might make their way to his attention (or at least the mainstream media's).