We all understand the persuasive power of social media.
People are more empowered to have their opinions heard, show support for a
cause, offer advice to friends and share photo and video assets. This not only
impacts the way we do business and conduct our personal lives, but it has
greatly impacted the sociopolitical structure in our country.
Social media persuasive power was first seen in the Obama
vs. Hilary Clinton preliminary election in 2008. It was social media that first
put Obama on the map when Amber Lee Ettinger (AKA “Obama Girl”) released a
video on YouTube called “I’ve Got a Crush… on Obama” which was viewed 11.5
million times in the months leading up to the election (Qualman, 2005, p.52).
This video greatly impacted Obama’s popularity and helped
generate excitement for his campaign. Obama embraced social media early in his
campaign, and he had over 3.1 million Facebook fans, 833,161 MySpace friends
and 113,000 Twitter followers by the time he was elected, more than any other
candidate (Qualman, 2005, p.51). This growth in popularity on social platforms
resulted in endorsement dollars which helped fuel the campaign through the final
vote against John McCain.
People are doing more than “following” or “liking”
presidential candidates, they are engaging in active communication across
multiple platforms sharing their thoughts on debate topics. During the 2012
election, “39% of all American adults took part in some sort of political activity
on a social networking site” (Susskind, 2013). President Obama continued to
develop his social network during this pivotal time in his career by engaging
with his followers via Twitter Town Hall meetings where he utilized trending hash
tags and posted immediately following his win.
People are also much more aware of political issues and
candidate positions because of social media. 18% of voters reported that they took
action on a political or social issue because of something they read on a
social networking site (Susskind, 2013). People are now walking into the voting booths
in bigger numbers and better educated than ever before.
Our next presidential election is now two years away. What
should potential candidates do to start growing their social fan base? What
else can we predict will play an important role in allowing consumers to
dominate the political conversation?
Kristen
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley.
Susskind, Jane (2013, June 3). 10 Statistics About Social Media and Politics You Didn’t Know. IVN.
Retrieved on February 10, 2014 from http://ivn.us/2013/06/03/10-statistics-you-didnt-know-about-social-media-and-politics/
Kristen, great topic. Social media has definitely changed the way for elections and other government issues. I think potential candidates should first create a YouTube page to introduce themselves to "the people." I think it's important for people to first know who you are before we know what your platform is. I had no idea who Obama was when he started running for the 2008 election. Of course a Twitter account and a Facebook page are musts, I also think a personal blog of some sort would be a good idea too. People like when a person of power/celebrity seems relatable.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteObama's team was very strategic with utilizing social media to market him, especially because of the impact it had on younger generations. I think more than ever the younger generation was in tune with politics than they had been with previous elections. Aside from using social media to market Obama to the American people, they managed to sell an idea. The combination of the idea and social media connected with our culture in a way that hadn't been done before. The use of social media in politics has not stopped there. Just several weeks ago many of us commented on Obama's recent presidential address - commentaries were flooding Twitter feeds and Facebook during that address by politicians and new sources alike. We also commented that the integration of social media in politics has affected they way we retrieve our news.
I think for the next election we'll see more social networking and possible things like live Twitter Q&A sessions to connect in real time.
Hi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job at explaining this chapter in your post. Erik Qualman has been one of my favorite authors from the readings in this course and he always brings up great examples. You selected excellent points to highlight from the text.
Obama was definitely the first president to embrace social media. I remember this during his campaign as well. "Obama was diligent in not abandoning social media once he took over as president. He realized that the people who had elected him to office wanted to stay connected, and he also knew this would be key to success while in office." (Qualman, 2013)
That video today still makes me laugh, although part of me could not take him seriously after viewing it.
I think the next political candidates should definitely start growing their fan bases early on social media. You ask a great question, what can they do? I think that just having an active Twitter account and Facebook page may not be enough anymore. These candidates will have to dig deep into social media networks and embrace the new and trending applications, especially if they want to reach the millennial generation. Social media will definitely be playing an important role in the political conversation.
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this interesting article about Social Media for Politicians. I totally agree with you.
ReplyDelete