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Portland’s next mayor: A tale of the social network tape

Rick Turoczy on November 16, 2011

So the Portland mayoral race is starting to move into the next phase, with the candidates coming off of the first formal debate, this week.

Having candidates debating always leads me to wonder… How are those conversations happening online? And what sort of sway do Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson Smith hold in terms of social networks?

It’s a fair question. Given that Portland Mayor Sam Adams has amassed an impressive Twitter following—upwards of 43,000 followers as of this post—and he uses his social media presence for everything from debating Occupy Portland to responding to pothole reports.

So how do the current candidates line up in the online world? Let’s take a look.

Eileen Brady

Charlie Hales

Jefferson Smith

So, in terms of online presence, Jefferson has the early lead.

I’ll work to keep an eye on these metrics as the race goes on. It could be a leading indicator. Or it could be fluff. But it’s worth watching. Especially as the campaigns begin to ramp up.

And maybe we can get the candidates to chat with us on Meet the Startup—like Sam Adams did—so we can get more insight into their views on the Portland startup scene than just social media metrics.

I mean, every political campaign is a startup, right?

(Image courtesy Derrick Coetzee. Used under Creative Commons.)

Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy

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  12. Kathleen McDade November 18, 2011 at 10:32 pm

    I love that two of the campaigns jumped right on this. Well done.

    I look forward to seeing your social media analysis of Mike Reese. 🙂

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  14. Rick Turoczy November 16, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    @Matt You don’t have apologize. I said, it could be fluff 😉

  15. Matt Youell November 16, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    Scott, that’s fair, but if you put any stock in this analysis (and I don’t, sorry Rick) he’s doing as well as at least one of the candidates.

  16. Scott November 16, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    @max4mayor is an absolute joke. I can see why they wouldn’t include the boy.

  17. Erin McGovney November 16, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    This is great info – thanks! I’ve really appreciated how present and responsive the Mayor has been on Twitter, and I’m hoping the next mayor will make the same choice.

  18. Jeff Katz November 16, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    Jessica: Combining Charlie’s personal FB friends and his campaign followers does not makes sense. One should assume (or hope) he uses his personal account differently than his campaign. Perhaps the campaign FB page needs to get more “Likes”

    Also # of friends and friends is not a good indicator of one’s social media engagement. Charlie does a pretty poor job of engaging on Twitter (six updates since Sept 1st)) compared to Brady (approx. 75) and Smith (over 100)

  19. Stacey Dycus November 16, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    Rick- Sure we agree with Jessica- include personal friends (Jefferson has 3000+).

    Considering Jefferson was named the 2011 Small Business Champion for OMEN, he would also love to talk about the things he has done to help Oregon’s homegrown businesses.

    Stacey Dycus
    Jefferson Smith for Mayor

  20. Matt Youell November 16, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    Hey, don’t forget @max4mayor, pulling in 235 followers on Twitter and 307 likes on The Great Social Satan.

  21. Jessica November 16, 2011 at 2:27 pm

    First, Charlie would love to talk with you on Meet the Startup! There’s a lot to discuss: increasing the incentives for socially responsible businesses in Portland. How the city can help ease access to capital for start-ups and growing new businesses. What you need from the next mayor of Portland, beyond an ability to use twitter.

    When would you like to talk?

    Second, might I suggest that you look at the combined total of Charlie’s personal Facebook friends (1086) and the campaign’s followers? Considering that the conversation about the future of Portland is happening on both pages, it would seem like a more accurate metric.

    Jessica M.
    Communications Manager
    Charlie Hales for Mayor

  22. Jeff Katz November 16, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    Did you forget to mention that one of those scores is produced locally? 🙂

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