The Internet had already called the election for Obama

In my previous post I've implied that McCain's internet illiteracy doesn't matter that much. Allow me to clarify more on that.

What I really wanted to say is that, McCain's internet illiteracy matters little for a McCain presidency, but it's crucial for a McCain candidacy. McCain's internet illiteracy reflects the internet (or Web) illiteracy of the people running McCain's campaign.

The battle for attention (and fundraising) in cyberspace is what the McCain (and Hillary Clinton) campaign had failed to win over. Obama beat them on the internet. The Internet called the election for Obama during the Democratic primary and it would continue to do so in the national election.

However, with great technology comes great responsibility. Team Obama had succeeded on getting online attention by capitalizing on social networks, but this exposure makes it easy for people to gang up on the Obama campaign. Case in point: FISA protest on Obama's website. In fact, I felt so strongly about FISA that I started my own Barack Obama blog. Fortunately for Obama, the people running his campaign understand how to deal (or rather forced to deal) with the reality of social networks. Team Obama was quick to acknowledge and respond to the protest by posting Obama's explanation for his decision. The keyword here is "acknowledge." Those who understand social networks know that acknowledgment and quick response is good PR on the Web.

Clay Shirky has more to say on this. See FORA.tv: Clay Shirky on Social Networks and the Obama Campaign.