Politics and Facebook

Politics and Facebook

Facebook has changed the face of politics. The 2008 presidential election is proof of that. In 2008, both the Democratic candidate, Barak Obama, and the Republican candidate, John McCain, utilized Facebook as a means to reach the younger and more internet savvy population. Not only did both parties have pages, they were both wildly popular. “… in the 2008 presidential election, all Democratic and Republican candidates established Facebook and MySpace profiles, and hundreds of thousands of social network sites (SNSs) users added them as ‘‘friends’’ (Fernandes, Giurcanu, Bowers, & Neely, 2010, p. 654). This new development has caused many political campaigners to change their plans and include a social media profile in their campaigning process.

Facebook Politics in the Future

This development had a major impact on the Presidential elections in 2008. “In fact, the use of Facebook for political purposes was so significant that it caused major news organizations like CNN to pose the question, ‘Will the 2008 presidential election be won on Facebook?’” (Woolley, Limperos, & Oliver, 2010, p.632). The use of Facebook can allow for mobilization of supporters, advertising products, and promoting debates. This new brand of campaigning also allows supporters to connect with one another, and even organize events on their own. “…as political candidates design their campaigns, the implementation of SNSs as a campaign strategy should take center stage to reach and communicate with these young voters” (Fernandes et al., 2010, p. 672). With its ease of use and amazingly far reach, Facebook campaigning is definitely something we will see in the future.

Samantha J.

References

Fernandes, J., Giurcanu, M., Bowers, K. W., & Neely, J. C. (2010). The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students' Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election. Mass Communication &
Society, 13(5), 653-675. doi:10.1080/15205436.2010.516865

Woolley, J. K., Limperos, A. M., & Oliver, M. (2010). The 2008 Presidential Election, 2.0: A Content Analysis of User-Generated Political Facebook Groups. Mass Communication & Society, 13(5), 631-652. doi:10.1080/15205436.2010.516864