Has the thought crossed your mind on the role social media played in the 2008 election? Not only did the Obama presidential campaign make history; he was able to accomplish this in a new way. Obama was the first African-American to be elected president. He was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy. (Rutledge) This makes the most sense. Why not launch a campaign to reach all the places that voters check the most? The Obama campaign spent $47M on a digital campaign where $4.7M was only spent on the Romney campaign.
Currently 69% of American adults use social networks. Of this 69%, 39% of all
users are estimated to engage in political activism online. (Rutledge) Social media is shown to be the center point
of any presidential campaign. Just like when JFK was the first president who
appeared on TV for his campaign, and most believed this is was the main
reason he was elected to his presidency. Most say that social media was Obama’s
TV for his campaign. However, we all know how annoying those TV ads are during
the presidential election year.
Do you think it should be allowed for candidates to base
their campaigns on social media? Do you enjoy the influence that so many
politicians have on the political activism online?
Works Cited:
Rutledge, Pamela. "How Obama Won the Social Media Battle in the 2012 Presidential Campaign." Pamela Rutledge Media Psychology Blog.
The Media Psychology Bar, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
<http://mprcenter.org/blog/2013/01/25/how-obama-won-the-social-media-battle-in-the-2012-presidential-campaign/>.
It's difficult to say. I don't necessarily agree with the use of social media as a political campaign outlet, but I don't think it would be fair (or even possible) to end this. Political campaign managers are seeing this trend (even obsession) with social media among young adults. So inevitably, they're taking advantage of the exposure. By involving candidates in social media, they are reaching a larger market - young adults who may not have voted otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAs the bar graph above shows, Obama's budget for digital campaigning was TEN TIMES the amount of Romney's budget. That (literally) speaks volumes.
Of course you can use social Media for campaign. I feel that politicians should be able to use any weapon in order to help them win as long as they are ethical in doing so. Yes, social media is huge today so Obama was just plain BRILLIANT to even think of using that strategy. He was able to target groups that other politicians probably didn't even think of.. Now that's what I call "thinking outside the box"' and doing what you need to do to get ahead.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Latasha, I think it was a brilliant strategy. What I don't understand is why when Romney realized the benefit of social media, didn't he use it, but I guess that is not really the subject. I honestly prefer the advertising on social networks to TV ads because if it doesn't interest you just don't click on. You are forced to watch it on T.V. Does any one else agree?
ReplyDeleteI guess politicians like everyone else should have the right to use the social media to their advantage. I think majority prefer to watch their favorite TV programs without commercials but, we cannot always get what we want to full satisfaction. A lot of people don’t have the understanding of what is going on around them; I don’t think it is a bad idea to use the social media to add to others’ knowledge. If using social media had positive influence for anyone well maybe others should try it as well. It is definitely a good source to tell everyone what you want them to hear.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that advertising on a social networking site for a presidential election should be legal. I do not necessarily like the idea myself but it does have a potential upside. Although seeing what they wish for you to see instead of the actual facts is not necessarily a good thing I am hopeful that by seeing the advertisements the usual people who are less informed could be motivated into looking into the actual facts of the matter instead of staying mostly uninformed.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Obama used social media to help his campaign to his full advantage. For when you think about it, when JFK used TV to help his campaign it was new, exciting, and people wanted to see it. I feel as though for the most part, Obama had perfect timing to use the social media to help reach voters. People were not already sick of seeing candidates on social media, I feel like it will have its time as a good tool just as TV did, and that they will need to stay on top of technology to keep finding the best possible ways to get votes.
ReplyDeleteI think there is no reason not to allow social media to be used by political candidates. Individuals use it, groups use it, the government uses it, trade associations use it, and so on, so why not politicians? Actually, I think it would be foolish for a candidate running for any political office, from town council to the president, not to use it. Not only did it help Barack Obama win the presidency, my mom gives her Facebook page a lot of the credit for her victory in the Fairfax, Virginia school board election. However, it goes far beyond merely having a Facebook or Twitter page. That page needs to draw potential voters in, it needs to be updated regularly, and the candidate or their team needs to take the time to post and respond to their potential constituents. While I am not a heavy social media user myself, I know there is a lot of time and effort that goes into using it as a marketing tool.
ReplyDeleteI think social media had a big part in who won, for the simple fact that it reached a crowd that probably wouldn't have thought much of politics. Reaching an area where you can find 90% of the US population and its is cost efficient was a huge leg up. It really gave a platform to the more younger generation to put a voice in there ear. I think this platform will be used more and more in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteI think social media plays an important part. As technology goes, people increase using it and social media affects the way they think about something. in this case, for some people who do not know much about policy, but would go to vote, they will be affected by social media. It can drive people to think in different way and vote the one that actually does not fix their needs.
ReplyDeleteI think it's their rights to use whatever source of technology to do their campaigns. I think it was actually really smart of Obama to spend $47 million on digital campaigns. It obviously worked because he is now on his second term of presidency. With technology changing everyday we have to learn to adapt to it and use it for our benefit. Annoying as it is to see political campaigns all the time on our social media it's their right. Of course, I did not enjoy it because I don't like to see it all over my Facebook newsfeed. The good thing is you can always block it.
ReplyDeleteObama was smart. He recognized that a lot of people were using social media, and more are today. Why not advertize on a platform that is widely used by a large portion of the American people. If I were running for office I would not base my advertising campaign on social media, but I would definitely spend a lot of my budget for advertising online and on social media.
ReplyDeleteSocial Media is definitely the quickest way to advertise in real time to a mass audience especially through Twitter. I was just reading last night where Twitter was able to predict the outcome of the 2012 election based on Tweets on a heat map. It is incredible the access one has to the public through this one website.
ReplyDeleteSocial media influenced the 2013 election just like it influences so many other things in this country. Many Americans are far more likely to join in social conversations on Facebook regarding the presidential candidates rather than research the topics and issues themselves. Especially young adults! Knowing this, I think any candidate running for President of the United States of America would be a fool not to capitalize on this.
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