Politics 2.0

Presidential campaigns have changed and evolved during the years. As technology advances the candidates can use that to their advantage, connecting more with their public and gaining more support. One of the biggest examples today is that of President Barack Obama. His popularity is owed a lot to social network sites. He understood that the only way to gain young followers was through social media.

Although gaining support for older followers is great, politicians understand that the ones who really matter are the younger voters because they still have a whole lifetime to vote. President Obama knew that the generation he was aiming at, otherwise known as the Y generation, does not trust tv ads or politicians. He decided to get as many social networks as possible and interact with his followers, making him look more of a person and less of a politician. He let his followers know that they could reach out to them and that made them trust him.

I’m not saying the only reason why President Obama was elected was because of social networks but it did help. In the recent 2012 election you could spot the difference. Mitt Romney didn’t have many social networks nor did he update them often. He didn’t interact much with followers and that’s why he gained support from only a few types of followers. Social Network sites are powerful tools and if used correctly could change the world.

Exploring New Social Networking Sites

When we think of social networks, the big ones that come to mind are Twitter and Facebook. Little do people know how many new social networks sites are being created and launched.

I found and joined two new ones and I’m sure there are many more. My biggest concern when joining new social networking sites is “How in the world do they work?” We are used to Facebook and Twitter that when we first join the sites they can be a bit confusing and overwhelming.

Both of the ones I joined, I came to find out later, were created by the creators of Twitter. They have launched Branch and Medium, two sites in which you can use Twitter to sign it. Branch lets Twitter users invite others into conversations, that don’t show up on everyone’s Twitter Timeline nor does it have a 140-character limit. Medium is like Pinterest. Users can publish a collection of articles, pictures, or other types of media so other users can see and rate it. 

I still haven’t completely figured both out, but wasn’t it like that when Facebook and Twitter first started? Its only a matter of time before we all switch from Facebook to new social networking site like how we once did from Myspace.