In 2008, Barack Obama and his presidential campaign made history. Not only was Obama the first African American to be elected president, he was the first presidential candidate to be successful in using social media as an effective campaign strategy. With social media being a part of everyday life today, it is hard to think about that back in 2008, interacting with people on Facebook and Twitter was a big deal. After all, Twitter had just come into the social media world and the very first iPhone was not available yet. This only emphasizes the importance of Barack Obama’s use of social media in his 2012 presidential campaign for reelection. In his book, The Social Media President: Barack Obama and the Politics of Digital Engagement, James
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They are now one of the most fundamental elements for running a favorable campaign. Barack Obama first used social media in his 2008 campaign and then was reelected in 2012. Seeing how social media infinitely influenced political campaigns, the 2008 presidential became known as the “social media election” and the 2012 presidential election became known as the ‘Twitter Election”. It is easy to realize that candidates who decided not to take advantage of social media perhaps did not do as well as they had once hoped. Jeffrey P. Hinkeldey states that, ”if a candidate wants to reach a larger, more diverse audience and, more importantly, have an influence on that audience, social media is becoming the best, if not the only option” (79). It is not hard to disagree with this statement. Not many people actually sit down and watch the evening news anymore. More and more are becoming dependent on the internet and social media applications like Facebook and Twitter to stay informed on what is going on with not just the United States, but with the rest of the …show more content…
Their presence was more low-key compared to Obama’s campaign. The Romney campaign decided to use Tumblr, which is more of a blogging site and mostly used by teenagers. His page was very boring and not appealing to voters and potential supporters. Tumblr allows the user to choose a “theme”, which allows the user to customize their blog however they like. Romney’s “theme” was very basic that was only a white background, a very small image of his campaign logo, and an uncentered picture of Romney with “Paid for by Romney for President, Inc.” in a very small, grey font (Mitt Romney.tumblr.com). How did Romney and his expect to attract any attention? The answer is they did not. Romney’s campaign fell short of connecting with potential voters due to their seemingly unmotivated use of social media. Those who already supported Romney were of an older age demographic and were less likely to participate in any form of social media. The Obama campaign was able to get their message out much easier by getting the information to younger voters that actively participated in social media. Poor utilization by the Romney campaign was a terrible decision and consequently cost him the
They are now one of the most fundamental elements for running a favorable campaign. Barack Obama first used social media in his 2008 campaign and then was reelected in 2012. Seeing how social media infinitely influenced political campaigns, the 2008 presidential became known as the “social media election” and the 2012 presidential election became known as the ‘Twitter Election”. It is easy to realize that candidates who decided not to take advantage of social media perhaps did not do as well as they had once hoped. Jeffrey P. Hinkeldey states that, ”if a candidate wants to reach a larger, more diverse audience and, more importantly, have an influence on that audience, social media is becoming the best, if not the only option” (79). It is not hard to disagree with this statement. Not many people actually sit down and watch the evening news anymore. More and more are becoming dependent on the internet and social media applications like Facebook and Twitter to stay informed on what is going on with not just the United States, but with the rest of the …show more content…
Their presence was more low-key compared to Obama’s campaign. The Romney campaign decided to use Tumblr, which is more of a blogging site and mostly used by teenagers. His page was very boring and not appealing to voters and potential supporters. Tumblr allows the user to choose a “theme”, which allows the user to customize their blog however they like. Romney’s “theme” was very basic that was only a white background, a very small image of his campaign logo, and an uncentered picture of Romney with “Paid for by Romney for President, Inc.” in a very small, grey font (Mitt Romney.tumblr.com). How did Romney and his expect to attract any attention? The answer is they did not. Romney’s campaign fell short of connecting with potential voters due to their seemingly unmotivated use of social media. Those who already supported Romney were of an older age demographic and were less likely to participate in any form of social media. The Obama campaign was able to get their message out much easier by getting the information to younger voters that actively participated in social media. Poor utilization by the Romney campaign was a terrible decision and consequently cost him the