Social Media and the 2012 Election

The Arendt Center's Director of Outreach, Bridget Hollenback, has an interesting piece on the use of social media in the 2012 Presidential race which appeared on Media Psychology Impact:

This increase in social media users skewing Republican is interesting, but an easily explained phenomenon. It is not a reflection of Democrats tiring of social media or becoming less active with its use. Rather, technology has become more of a societal norm. Case in point, since 2008, the number of active Facebook users has grown astronomically from 100 million to 800 million. A good percentage of this increase reflects older, and often more conservative voters (many of whom would lean Republican), becoming more tech savvy and comfortable utilizing social media.

So, will social media impact this year’s election? For anyone still skeptical, 2011 studies by Digitas and SocialVibe may very well change their mind:

• 38% of responders say social media will help determine their voting choices in the upcoming election.
• 60% of social media users expect candidates to have a social media presence.
• 94% of respondents of voting age engaged by a political message on a social media site watched the entire message, and 39 percent of these people went on to share it with an average of 130 friends online.

As the race to choose a Republican candidate rages on, social media has become an inherent part of each candidate’s overall strategy. However, thus far the candidates are using it with varying degrees of savvy and success.

You can read the post in its entirety here.