The Politics of Social Media

It's Election Day. Let's all think back to a year ago with the historic election of Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States. It was historic, not just because he was the first African-American, first Hawaiian, first time a family with young kids were in the White House since John F. Kennedy, etc., etc. It was also historic because it was the first time social media and social networking sites were used in campaigning. David Plouffe, mastermind of the Obama campaign, effectively used Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube to reach a whole new group of voters. Ones who were often missed by the old standard telephone polls, and therefore are not considered "likely voters."

While the Obama campaign promised to bring "Change" to America, it most certainly brought about a "Change" to the internet and the way people use social media.

Prior to Obama's campaign, I probably only heard a mention of Twitter once, maybe twice. But I definitely had not thought about it being a mass-marketing tool. Nowdays, (I know, I'm talking like that was the 18th century!) if a political campaign does NOT use social media, in my eyes, it is a flawed campaign. Even using the basics like Tweeting out when you're having a rally or creating a fan page and listing your issues there ups your visibility to voters who might not really know your name or know what you're really about.

Just this past Sunday, I went to a very small networking event, probably no more than ten people showed up. But a candidate running for the mayor of Boston happened to stop by. While a newspaper and two TV stations somehow found out he was going to be there, that's probably not where this candidate's campaign benefited from the most. He probably got the most out of one of the attendees at the event who had his ultra-portable video camera. The attendee asked the candidate if he could do a quick interview. That voter then posted it to his blog, notified his friends via Facebook that he had this interview, and then his friends told their friends and so on and so forth. The result: the candidate instantly accessed a large number of people who probably would not have heard him speak or had not given it a second thought, except for the fact that their friend told them to check the video out.
Since the Obama election, I have seen the number of politicians with Facebook and Twitter profiles increase significantly. Some of them use them effectively, others not so much. Some are very active, Tweeting out events, reminders, issues, etc. Others it seems only have these pages so they can appear as though they are "hip," and "in the loop," but they don't maximize the power of social media.

Things are definitely changing in America and across the globe. The world is getting smaller because we are more connected. Politicians who understand that and use social media the right way win. And not just on Election Day.