This is not a conclusion I’d trust without some validation of your conjectures (”Get to a Net Gener with a social network of say 400 young people and tapping into a powerful resource called social capital — relationships based on trust”).

It is tempting to draw the conclusion that this is a triumph for Politics 2.0, but some of the attributions you are dismissing as trivial aren’t. The non-criticality of those influences has to be proven rather than assumed.

Good comment. At this stage in the elections I don’t think there is any “proof” in the sense of valid and reliable statistical procedures showing causal relationships (My background is actually research methodology.”) We’re pretty much making hypotheses. In measurement terms I think mine has what’s referred to as “face validity.” I came to this conclusions studying the campaign carefully for my next book (October 2008) Grown Up Digital. Social capital is a powerful thing, especially Net Gen social capital, I believe that Obama tapped into effectively.

Don

[...] and beyond. Obama’s campaign is been argued to be an improved version of Dean’s and Obama’s embrace of the internet to have given him the edge over Clinton in the primary [...]

I would say Obama’s youth appeal and web 2.0 approach is what made it possible for him to win.

Hillary still could have won if she’d avoided all the mistakes that can be boiled down to a failure to recognize that the political landscape had changed.

[...] have the power to make a difference. The numbers speak for themselves. As Don Tapscott wrote in a previous post – During the Iowa preliminary, Obama had won by a landslide in millennial votes. His 28,000 vs. [...]

[...] http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/05/more-on-obama-and-wikinomics/ Published Sep 01 2008, 07:00 AM by Justin Hunt save it on  Del.icio.us  Digg  Stumble share on  Facebook  reddit Comments No Comments   To comment on this post you have to be logged in Top of Page Search Community [...]

[...] have the power to make a difference. The numbers speak for themselves. As Don Tapscott wrote in a previous post – During the Iowa preliminary, Obama had won by a landslide in millennial votes. His 28,000 vs. [...]

[...] times about the impact of social networks on this year’s US Presidential election – see here and here. And let’s be honest, the use of such networks and new web 2.0 technologies has been [...]

[...] has deployed technology and engaged the Net Generation to enhance his bid for the Oval Office. See here, here, here, here, and [...]

[...] note: for previous coverage of the role of wikinomics in this race, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and [...]

do you think is it possible to have peer production also for marketing/commercial activity? my company http://www.lamercanti.it sell office furniture (selection of italian brands) around the world. is it possible that community is interesting in promoting my business.. do you think there is a possibility…