A Word on Authenticity

Last week, we praised Claire McCaskill for using Twitter the right way -- for actually achieving authenticity.

Perhaps the most important factor in McCaskill's microblogging success? She's got a strong voice and she's clearly the one writing it.

But not every public figure is going to prioritize tweeting -- and not every public figure is going to be as gifted at using these new communications tools.

The solution for staffers is not to pose as their bosses. You can't fake authenticity, and if you try it's easily detectable.

On the Obama campaign, we made a conscious decision to not blog in Barack Obama's name. None of the posts that I and the other Obama bloggers wrote were ever written in anyone's name but our own. In our view, the blog was something of a sacred space, reserved for authentic and direct converstaions with our supporters, and we valued their trust too much to pose as anyone else.

Instead of imitating your boss on a blog or on Twitter, cultivate your own voice. Let the supporters get to know you, answer their questions, respond to their comments, solicit their advice and ideas for future posts.

And remember, if you're blogging for a campaign, Member of Congress, organization, or business, it's ultimately not about you -- or even your boss. Your job is to create a community -- and ideally, start building a movement -- not to grow a personal following. There's no better way to do this is to elevate your supporters by telling their stories. More on that later...