Social Media: An Invaluable Tool for the 2012 Presidential Election

The advent of social media in the early 2000s was still in its infancy during the 2004 presidential election but by the 2008 election, the frenzy around it created an unprecedented role of the interactive Web 2.0 tools in the digital political landscape and marked it as the first social media election in history.

It tookthe 2008 election by storm, creating an arena for voters to express, share and engage with others who embraced similar values and opinions. Mediums like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn served as catalysts that moved and motivated thousands of voters to organize virtually.

The 2012 election will be no different. Social media could have just as big of an impact on this coming election as the 2008 election, if not more. The trend of virtual networks has exploded with more sites like Google+ and Foursquare, growing more pervasive and continuing to change drastically. 

Jay Samit, CEO of SocialVibe, writes that candidates wishing to succeed need to realize social media’s power to either make or break a campaign because of three things: audience, influence and money.

“Social media has become ‘the central nervous system’ of campaigns,’” said Mindy Finn, a Republication political operative.  It has allowed campaigns to establisher a closer connection to people, knowing more about them, their interests and their friends.

Presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Herman Cain are jumping at opportunities in the online realm and creating and Internet buzz through networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

With millions of voters actively sharing their frustrations or passions over the Web, the 2012 presidential election has the potential to be different than any yet.  One thing is certain-social media has become a powerful and compulsory tool for each candidate’s race to the White House that cannot be ignored.