Social Media and Politics

Social media is... interesting.  It's strange.  It allows people to feel closer to each other simply by reading some post or receiving a thumbs up.  It allows people to find that cute someone at school to determine if she has a boyfriend already--unless she has wisely made her profile private.  It's part of a new wave of advertisement.  And political campaign.  And Obama, who used social media so well during his campaign (or, rather, his campaign folks did), is falling behind, according to NPR.  Yes, even after using YouTube as part of his State of the Union address, the Republicans have caught up in their use of social media.

Clearly, there are several contributing factors.  Social media is not a secret anymore in 2011, so it's not surprising that other groups would use it after Obama's successful 2008 campaign.  Also, Facebook and Twitter were relatively new in 2008.  Now, they're commonplace.

According to Patrick Ruffini, a media consultant to the Republicans, "The Internet is a medium for challengers."  So it makes sense how Republicans are gaining ground online as they challenge the current political order, with many similarities to the 2008 Obama campaign.  Ruffini also points out that campaigns are generally black/white or good/bad so it's easier to rally people around winning against the opponent.  It's more difficult to rally support around compromise and filibusters.

A third factor is that, according to a social media consultant who worked with the Obama campaign, no one in Democratic party understands how to use social media.  It's possible that they're focusing on what worked three years ago (like a decade ago in technology years) when these technologies were fresh and new.  Now, it's necessary to switch tactics, try out new strategies, and use social media to garner support for the current political situation.  There has to be someone in the Whitehouse who can come up with some innovative ideas.

Overall, I found it interesting and amusing that the two major political parties are waging war on the social media front.  But, I suppose, it's the way of the future.  I wonder what the median age for the social media team is for each party.  I bet it's around 50 (although I have no idea, that just seems to be the age of the rich white men who run this country), so maybe they should hire some young'uns who have grown up with this stuff.