Social Media is Helping Presidential Candidates
Social media has grown exponentially during the last years. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks are now the main source of where people get their news. Politicians take advantage of the new technology and use it in their favor for campaigning. In the 2012 election between Obama and Mitt Romney, Obama had a lead in digital activity. According to Pew Research Center, “Obama campaign published 614 posts during the two weeks examined compared with 168 for Romney.” Obama’s campaigned used social media more to appeal to the people, which later resulted in him winning the election. Social Media is a gateway between the presidential candidate and the voters; in Obama’s case he used social …show more content…
Politicians are using social media in a similar way; they are able to have a closer relationship with voters. Social media allows them to speak to voters and appeal to younger voters. Blockey wrote for the Tweetwall Blog, “Consider, for example, that according to a 2014 study by Pew Research, the percentage of registered voters who follow political figures on social networks has doubled to 16%” (Blockey). Social media has become important to appeal to voters that are interested in politics and also appealing others that will see it because it is on their feed. Sending political messages through social media allows the politician to view how the voters will react to their agenda. Blockey also wrote, “Of course, it’s not just a matter of sending a few political messages. As in the business world, the most powerful aspect of social media is that it allows your business to connect and converse with voters in a way you never have before. It gives you a direct line to the people who hold the future of your political career in their hands” (Blockey). Targeting the younger audience has become easier for politicians, not only are the repeated voters getting the information on new politicians, but also everyone else that is using social …show more content…
Whether the feedback on a particular subject is positive or negative, the politician is able to know what voters think. Social media allows them to know how the public is responding to an issue and how they can adjust to appeal more to people. On September 17, 2015 Green Party leader Elizabeth May was left out of the election debate, because of social media she was still able to participate. She posted her rebuttals on Twitter during the debate in order to get her ideas across and get feedback; because of this she gained more attention than the leaders in the debate. Mayer wrote for CBC News, “By tweeting her rebuttals and policy statements, May effectively broadened the scope of the debate. She also garnered more Twitter mentions than any of the other leaders” (Mayer). Social media was able to help Elizabeth May; even though she was excluded from the debates she was able to express her ideas. She was able to get feedback from people that were interested in debate, and gained three thousand nine hundred new followers because of her tweets. (Shulman) Social media was able to help many candidates get elected and show their position on issues. Social media aided not only presidential candidates, but other political leaders by letting them have direct contact with voters, providing free advertisement, and receiving feedback
Social media has grown exponentially during the last years. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks are now the main source of where people get their news. Politicians take advantage of the new technology and use it in their favor for campaigning. In the 2012 election between Obama and Mitt Romney, Obama had a lead in digital activity. According to Pew Research Center, “Obama campaign published 614 posts during the two weeks examined compared with 168 for Romney.” Obama’s campaigned used social media more to appeal to the people, which later resulted in him winning the election. Social Media is a gateway between the presidential candidate and the voters; in Obama’s case he used social …show more content…
Politicians are using social media in a similar way; they are able to have a closer relationship with voters. Social media allows them to speak to voters and appeal to younger voters. Blockey wrote for the Tweetwall Blog, “Consider, for example, that according to a 2014 study by Pew Research, the percentage of registered voters who follow political figures on social networks has doubled to 16%” (Blockey). Social media has become important to appeal to voters that are interested in politics and also appealing others that will see it because it is on their feed. Sending political messages through social media allows the politician to view how the voters will react to their agenda. Blockey also wrote, “Of course, it’s not just a matter of sending a few political messages. As in the business world, the most powerful aspect of social media is that it allows your business to connect and converse with voters in a way you never have before. It gives you a direct line to the people who hold the future of your political career in their hands” (Blockey). Targeting the younger audience has become easier for politicians, not only are the repeated voters getting the information on new politicians, but also everyone else that is using social …show more content…
Whether the feedback on a particular subject is positive or negative, the politician is able to know what voters think. Social media allows them to know how the public is responding to an issue and how they can adjust to appeal more to people. On September 17, 2015 Green Party leader Elizabeth May was left out of the election debate, because of social media she was still able to participate. She posted her rebuttals on Twitter during the debate in order to get her ideas across and get feedback; because of this she gained more attention than the leaders in the debate. Mayer wrote for CBC News, “By tweeting her rebuttals and policy statements, May effectively broadened the scope of the debate. She also garnered more Twitter mentions than any of the other leaders” (Mayer). Social media was able to help Elizabeth May; even though she was excluded from the debates she was able to express her ideas. She was able to get feedback from people that were interested in debate, and gained three thousand nine hundred new followers because of her tweets. (Shulman) Social media was able to help many candidates get elected and show their position on issues. Social media aided not only presidential candidates, but other political leaders by letting them have direct contact with voters, providing free advertisement, and receiving feedback