Cluetrain + 10 in politics, #9 = Trust

Cluetrain plus 10 was an effort to review how "The Cluetrain Manifesto" stood up ten years later, and blog and reflect on changes. Some thoughts:

• We want you to take 50 million of us as seriously as one WSJ reporter.
• Trust is the key.

It occurs to me that the "Cluetrain" thinking can be applied to politics as much as business marketing. Consider this:

Fundamental to 'The Cluetrain Manifesto' was the premise that the Internet provided a new and unique forum for communication that would ultimately shift the nature of business communication and marketing. Essentially, the change that is central to this text is one of breaking down corporate barriers and forming a conversation between those within and those outside a corporation -- online marketing would be more about holding conversations with people rather than broadcasting half-truths about products and services.

The authors of the manifesto suggested that such a shift would occur through substantial and pervasive changes in current company-to-consumer interaction. Communication would shift from mission statements and marketing media aimed at consumer segments to open dialogues or conversations between businesses and consumers.

Let's translate to the political realm:

Internet provided a new and unique forum for communication that would shift the nature of political communication and marketing. Essentially, the change that is central is one of breaking down political barriers and forming a conversation between candidates, office holders and voters -- online marketing would be more about holding conversations with people rather than broadcasting half-truths about campaigns and candidates.

The authors of the manifesto suggested that such a shift would occur through substantial and pervasive changes in current politician-to-voter interaction. Communication would shift from mission statements and marketing media aimed at voting groups to open dialogues or conversations between politicians and citizens.

But ... it hasn't happened!

Since publication, however, some state that the use of mass-media marketing has not fundamentally shifted from its use within organizations as the key means of communicating with consumers. Advertising on the Internet has grown over the intervening years, it remains, in some cases, an online version of the same style of mass-media marketing.

Obama's campaign used texting/mobile apps and Web 2.0 technology for a massive amount of ONE-WAY campaigning of the traditional sort. It remains, in some cases, an online version of the same style of mass-media marketing.
Meanwhile, the trust is still not there.
The elites and the grassroots have no gotten themselves around the New Reality. Until they do, there will be no trust.