According to Al-Jazeera news network, one-third of all Americans under-30 now get their news via social media. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121046251660618.html There is no doubt that the ability for the prospective candidates in the forthcoming 2012 US Presidential election to harness its potential fully will have an enormous effect on who is sitting in the Oval Office at the end of November.
President Obama was the first person to really exploit the value of the internet as a canvassing tool. The New York Times reported in 2008 that he was able to get $600m of support from followers such as unions and wealthy beneficiaries. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10carr.html?_r=0 That figure may seem like a splash in the ocean considering spending for this current election is projected to be as high as $6bn but it is certainly a very effective means of garnering support.
This time round, in respect to their online content, Al Jazeera state President Obama has the edge over Mitt Romney and a quick glance at their respective websites (http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view; http://www.barackobama.com/news) and blog spaces reveal that the Obama material looks fresher and more presentable. The same Al-Jazeera article reported that Twitter announced Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention received 9.5 million Tweets in response. If voting figures in the US at the upcoming election remain rooted at the traditional region of less than 50% of the population, that number of tweets represents a considerable portion of the voting electorate.
Online spaces allow for the electioneering committees to target their content to be much more specific to that demographic meaning voters feel more included and are more likely to recommend the content to their friends or colleagues, some of whom could be the all-important ‘swing’ voters come election day. Messages for these voters can feel far more personal as the teams are able to use data drawn from people’s online accounts to make the message appeal more directly to their interests. The fact that people have chosen to ‘follow’ their candidate means that they are far more invested in the message they receive as opposed to the ‘blunderbus’ approach of televised political adverts and the enormous cost in time and manpower of door-to-door knocking.
Being able to adapt to technological advancements has always been a decisive factor in politics. Without wanting to mention him in the same breath as the candidates who will be competing for the Presidency in November, Hitler was able to portray his National Socialist Party as modern and dynamic due to his collaboration with Leni Riefenstahl on pioneeering propaganda vehicles such as “Triumph of the Will”. In terms of American politics, Ronald Reagan was revered as “the great communicator” owing to both his background previously as an actor and his command over modern communication technologies, such as live, televised state addresses. While the televised debates, (the second of which is this Tuesday, October 16th) allow voters to see a more ‘human’ side to the candidates, the votes may already be cast in many people’s minds owing to the influence that social media has already had.
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