Don't Think Social Media Works? Who's in the White House?

Much has been made of our new President Obama as the first post-boomer President, first non-Vietnam-era President and a host of other tag-ons. Given the evidence of the past year, one issue is for certain: Barack Obama is definitely the first Internet President.
As ADWEEK pointed out earlier this week, Obama "rocked the Web" with online and streaming video of his inauguration freezing up hundreds of thousands of servers across the planet. If you didn't know how to text message while in the Capitol earlier this week, you likely experienced a hiccup or two trying to upload video or iPhone photos to your e-mail, much less connect on an actual cell phone call.
What has already been documented and will continue to produce numerous books and "how-tos" is the Obama campaign's extensive use of Social Media. Obama's campaigner staffers adriotly took complex issues and beat them small into bite-sized pieces for months, securing deep buy-in and commitment for a candidate who proved that he knew how to "listen" - albeit digitally.
Today, with a finely-honed multiple-million email contact base, Obama can instantly flash right over the heads of traditional TV, radio and print media, speaking with a credible and authoritative voice directly to his constituents. With the ultimate digital "fireside chat," Obama knows that Social Media works and works well.
The point? If you or your company is not right in the middle of figuring out how online communication can benefit your operations, the time is now to get busy. Just ask John McCain how important it is.