In last week’s sessions, we spoke about the influencers on Social Media. Famous people like, Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian came across. In the class we all agreed that Barack Obama is one of the biggest influencers in the world. With 64.9M Twitter followers, he reaches a big audience worldwide. This made me think about the upcoming presidential election in 2016.
I came across an article called “Why social media could swing the 2016 presidential election”. It is standard today for politicians and their campaigns to have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. However, for the elections of 2016, there are other social networks to consider, for example Instagram and Snapchat. As campaigning for the 2016 election increases, political strategies targeting newer social media sites will surely play a significant role.
Hillary Clinton is a good example of a candidate with a wide reach on social media. She recently created new accounts on more niche social networks; Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Spotify. The goal behind it, is to create an image around Clinton, humanize her and make her more relatable.
Candidates aren’t the only ones putting forth efforts on social, social media providers are also getting involved. Snapchat is a good example. Ahead of the Republican Debate, Snapchat Launched a “story” that showed behind-the-scenes clips of the event. Another example is Jeb Bush, he used Snapchat to announce his presidential campaign. In another article Snapschats idea of breaking the news of who is elected President in 2016 is being discussed. Which is another example of politicians and new social media tools working together.
Ralph Legnini says: “It’s not just about motivating his generation to vote, but getting their friends to” For example, 71% of Snapchat’s users are between the ages of 18 and 34 years old. So posting on niche social networks can help candidates to stand out to millennials. To make it work, campaigns need to be original and authentic, since millennials don’t want social-based political messaging to look like the age-old political ads they see on TV.
It’s unclear what the results will be. Right now it’s too early in the game for campaigns to tell which efforts work, and which ones don’t. It’s not the question if it will have an impact on the campaign; the question is more how it will impact the campaign. Like Jasso says; “How comfortable do I feel with that practical person? How trusting am I of that particular person? Would I want to have a beer with that person? Social Media is a good way to show that”
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