Name
Professor
Course
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Communications and Media
Electoral campaigns in the United over the years have been undergoing a revolution, whereas in the past any person willing to become the president of the United States of America or to be voted in for any electoral position one had to spend a lot of time in rallies and meetings in order to interact with the voters, the presidential election in 2012 was a bit different.
According to a study carried out by Pew Internet & American Life Project in October found that about 39 %of the Adults in the United States of America used the social media to discuss issues related to politics. Realizing that one was able to meet more voters on the social websites than in campaign rallies most of the presidential candidates in the 2012 elections turned to social media to pass their messages. During the campaign trail Obama’s speech during the Democratic National Convention sparked off about 2.5 million online conversations. This enormous people could not bring together in any campaign rally but social media was able to bring all of them together. During the presidential debate (the first) approximately more than 10 million people sent their tweets (Unforgettable Social Media Election Moments).
According to OpenSite the use of social media has increased since the year 2008. Approximately 1.8 million tweets were sent on the Election Day. This is far much less than the tweets sent currently, about 1.8 million are sent every six seconds. Looking at some of the defining features of the 2012 elections by Barbara Juliet one can see the extent which the social media plays in shaping the politics in the United States of America. Social media has become the only platform that politicians can be able to meet the highest number of voters.
Work cited
“5 Unforgettable Social Media Election Moments.” Leadership. N.p., 11 June 2012. Web. 5 May 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/julietbarbara/2012/…/5-unforgettable-social..>.
