Four years ago, social media conversations had an unprecedented impact on the presidential race. The GOP certainly took notice and even posted an op-ed in PR Week regarding the opportunities to engage voters online. Now that another presidential election year is upon us, candidates are using social media in new ways to try to break through to voters, share their platforms on key issues and gain an advantage. It’s been fascinating to watch— on both sides of the aisle.
Using Facebook to Reach Fans: Facebook plays a key role in every candidate’s strategy to reach voters. iContact recently published a study of the GOP candidates’ use of social media. The study found that Mitt Romney had the highest number of Facebook fans but experienced the lowest percentage of Facebook fan engagement. On the other hand, Rick Santorum had one of the lowest numbers of Facebook fans among the GOP candidates but actually had the highest engagement level with his fans.
Joining in the Debate Online: Does it feel like there has been about a thousand Republican debates held already? (Technically, there have been 24.) In addition to following the debates on TV, voters can follow the debates online through following hashtags like #CNNDebate. During Florida’s GOP debate last week, #CNNDebate was a trending topic throughout the evening, ranking as high as #1 in the US and worldwide during the broadcast.
Integrating Online and Offline Channels to Reach Voters: It might be hard to believe, but not every voter in America is an active user of Facebook and Twitter. In realizing this, candidates like Newt Gingrich are using platforms like Facebook to recruit volunteers to make phone calls and join in grassroots efforts to engage undecided voters.
Town Halls via Google+, Facebook, and YouTube: Yesterday, President Obama held a video chat session via Google+ to answer questions raised from his State of the Union (SOTU) address last week. The Google+ hangout was another town hall style event taken online, similar to the President’s Facebook and YouTube town halls in early 2011. Most of the session focused on the economy and on job creation. More than a quarter of a million people submitted questions to the president via YouTube for the event, and after the event, the YouTube page had 6,123 “likes”.
Twitter Chats: The day after the State of the Union address, Vice President Joe Biden held a Twitter chat to talk to individuals about the messages during the SOTU. Participants used the hashtag #WHChat and asked questions ranging from job creation, taxes, energy, and spending cuts. Some of the Tweets included:
“What happened to #health care reform? How will WH work to engage states in understanding need for improved primary care access? #WHChat”
“#WHChat #SOTU question: I didn’t hear much about spending cuts or the deficit: is there a plan to cut and balance the budget?”
This year, we’ll be watching how the candidates and the President will be using social media in new ways to reach voters and amplify their messages. Thanks to these online tools and channels, voters have more ways to connect with candidates and elected officials to pose their questions, better understand key economic, social and foreign policy issues, and become familiar with who they will be voting for public office. Clearly, these channels give voters more opportunities to be informed about their vote, and ultimately, give the candidates and elected officials more opportunities to listen to their constituents.