I think that merging social media and politics has made more people aware of what's going on politically. There are many people out there who never watch the news or read a newspaper, but are constantly on the computer. During the past election the candidates used this to their advantage because everything was at the click of a mouse. This was especially true for Obama who received a lot of votes from the younger generation (ages 18-24). He used social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to get his message of Change across to the public.
I’ve never been too big on politics because it just seemed like a pain to keep up with everything. However, now that everything has starting to become internet-based, it’s much easier to keep up and understand. Plus, politics has become more interesting to me since adopting the internet as a tool for providing information. Now you can read blogs, watch videos, and even get updates on Facebook about what’s going on politically. By the way, who would have thought that Facebook/Twitter and politics could relate in any serious way?
Below is a video that I watched when Obama was still campaigning. It has a bunch of celebrities in it talking about why Obama should be president. When celebrities are involved in things like politics, it’s just more good press for the candidate and more people will see it. I probably wouldn’t have ever seen it if it wasn’t on YouTube either.
I guess my main point is that things spread much faster on the internet than anywhere else, so it can be very helpful to a presidential candidate. When everyone knows and starts to care about you, that is when you become popular. The internet succeeds in making things known.
So, here’s my question to you! Do you think that Obama’s success in the election was based a lot on his use of social media sites?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
i must say yes social media and networking sites played a major part in the Obama campaign. He took the initiative to interact and draw the younger crowd in with these tactics. Everyone is one the internet from as young as 5 to as old as 85 . He used medium that is mostly conveniently accessible by many. Very smart promotion plan. Also the vote or die campaigns were effective because you saw everybody wearing those shirts and promoting P Diddy's campaign. Politics plus social media equals success
ReplyDelete