United Liberty

Editor’s Note: Chris Moody, the Manager of New Media at the Cato Institute and an excellent blogger, will be joining us here at United Liberty from time-to-time.

Be honest.

Before the advent of Web 2.0, social media, online friend networking and micro-blogging, would you have been able to name any of the top three think tanks in Washington? For most non-political junkies out there, the answer is usually a resounding no.

Before the explosion of the interactive Web, think tanks served a very different role in the lives of average citizens. Most of the materials produced were strictly for policy experts living inside the Beltway, government staffers or politically savvy donors who paid to receive quarterly journals on the state of campaign finance. The only exposure most people had to think tanks was the small editor’s note at the bottom of a newspaper op-ed that explained the writer’s affiliation.

But boy, have things changed.

Now nearly every think tank in Washington is engaging in social media in one way or another, and thousands of people are being exposed to these ideas because of it.

At The Cato Institute, we have been lighting up the larger social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, using them to encourage discussion and mobilize users. But these days, it’s not good enough to post a link to your site (or program a robot to do it for you) and walk away. It requires interactivity, which can take far more effort—but is almost always worth it.

Blogger outreach is a vital component to a strong new media strategy. With a quick read, it is possible to find out exactly what a blogger is interested in and how to get in touch with him. A PR flack who wants to get into blogger outreach can’t just build an email list and blast press releases by the thousands. Members of the political blogging community usually have day jobs and aren’t interested in skimming an email box full of press releases that don’t have anything to do with what they write about, which is why blogger outreach takes time, and a commitment to keeping them informed about what they want to read. Not what you think they should read.

And of course, don’t forget to say thank you. As Andrew Sullivan made clear in an Atlantic essay about blogging, the greatest form of gratitude is the hyperlink.

One of the most exciting things about think tanks engaging in social media is the way in which they enrich the conversation by becoming bloggers themselves. The old stereotype that all bloggers are basement dwelling, pajama wearing angry men who can type a rant is long gone. Now, experts in health care policy, foreign policy, economics, trade and countless others are engaging the discussion. If something vital breaks in the news, it’s not long before experts are on the scene, blogging their observations, views and analysis.

With television and print media no longer dominating the conversation, the time is ripe for research organizations to utilize new media channels to get their message out to a new and engaged audience. If there is one thing the Obama campaign, the Ron Paul online “money bombs” and the crowd-sourced information from the Iranian elections can teach us, it is that ideas can spread extremely quickly using these methods. Remembering that everyone communicates differently, whether it’s through a data-heavy research paper or a 140-character post on Twitter, will enable just about anyone to access new ideas, insights and information.

There’s no exact formula for a perfect social media strategy, but with dedication and a true interest in engaging the conversation, you’ll be on the right track in no time.