Politics and the Power of Social Media

In 2008, President Barack Obama’s social media strategy was incredibly insane. Crazy, no….brilliant, yes. For the first time ever, a presidential candidate tapped into social media and digital mediums to successfully reach a demographic of younger Americans that most other politicians ignored. Innovative and interactive, Obama’s social media platform was a force to be reckoned with during the campaign, and one that was highly visible to younger American’s of the social media generation. Then, the campaign could have been considered politically pioneering. Now, people have caught on and social media platforms have reached a record number of users.

First, let’s look at some statistics comparing 2008 & 2011. According to Mashable.com:

-In 2008, Facebook had 100 million users; today it has 800 million.

-In 2008, Twitter had 8 employees; today it has more than 400.

-In 2008, YouTube averaged 13 hours of video uploaded every minute; today it averages 48 hours.

-Foursquare did not yet exist

Now, let’s look at exactly how his team effectively used social media, and how it impacted what has become the “social media generation”.

During Obama’s ’08 campaign, almost all of the campaign content, debates, events and speeches were publicized and/or streamed online. Hashtags were put to good use on Twitter, and Facebook also teamed up with CNN to be able to watch live streams of debates/speeches while participating in Real-Time chats with other users from all over the country, and sometimes the world. For an 18-20 something aged American, this was perfect. Previously it may have been a shame, but it is now no secret that lots of younger Americans use social and digital media platforms as their source of gaining important information about a variety of subjects. Because they could log into Facebook, Twitter or YouTube and be met with a newsfeed full of campaign commentary, videos and links, they were absolutely NEVER out of the loop when it came to his campaign. So when it came time to vote, their support for him was overwhelming as well.

How can President Obama utilize social media again to garner success in this election? This time around, not only will he need to interact with social media users, but he’ll also need to encourage them to actively engage with him and others. During the last election, I changed my Facebook photo to his campaign logo of course, and used a #YesWeCan hashtag on my Twitter here and there. For me, this was a big step because I usually don’t discuss or reveal my political views on the internet. But much like my peers, I let the digital world know who I was voting for, but not why. Some say a campaign in which he encourages voters to post 30 second videos stating why they will vote for him could be beneficial. Another writer on Mashable.com suggested integrating FourSquare and having users “check-in” at official watch parties. I know in the past he’s always uploaded his speeches/debates onto UStream, but if he hasn’t done so already, I think he should sit down and make use of other UStream features as well. He could sit down for a UStream town hall perhaps, sitting down and speaking directly to his supporters as they use the live-stream chat feature to ask questions and have him answer them right away.

So what can businesses and people learn from the campaign? Social media and digital media can be used as a tool to grow your business and brand tremendously! Yes, this presidential race was highly publicized anyway, but Obama’s social media strategy literally took his campaign to a completely new level. He has overwhelming support from voters 29 and under…all who were actively engaging online during his campaign. Some even argue that his success was due in large part to his use of social media. The success of a business or entrepreneur can also depend in large part on successful social and digital media strategy, PR and advertising. So why not put it to effective use?

Now that most politicians have hopped on the social media bandwagon, it will become increasingly important for creativity and opportunities to actively engage to be even more innovative. I am looking forward to seeing the ways candidates, especially Obama, will integrate social media into their campaigns this time.