This week I will be discussing my findings in Chapter 4, What We Can Learn From Politics, in Erik Qualman's book Socialnomics. I will be touching on how social media changed politics as we know it, particularly the run for presidency. Not only did social media change politics in a big way, it changed the way younger audiences were engaged in the political process.
How Social Media Won the Presidency
We all know in order to run for President of the United States the one thing you need more than a grand vision for the future is none other than the good old-fashion dollar. Money, whether in the form of personal funds or financial backing, is necessary in order to appropriately market yourself and connect with the national audience.Back in 2008 there was a presidential candidate that was considered the underdog for these same reasons. Starting out with little to no financial foundation, he realized early into his campaign that traditional marketing would not be in his budget, instead Barack Obama utilized another communication avenue "to his advantage in both the Democratic primary and the national race to become president," that had never before been used in such a capacity: social media. He understood that the "blueprint for success will constantly evolve, but its important for us to recognize recurring old constructs that we can utilize to apply to the latest shifts in society and technology." (pg.59) The strategy for his campaign was to be the voice of CHANGE but it was more than his ideals that won him the presidency, it was how he 'plugged-in' to his audience that changed the way many viewed and connected with politics.
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Obama's campaign team soon realized that they had struck metaphoric gold with their campaign efforts because in "utilizing social networks to reach people" (pg.61) rather than traditional campaigning they were able to give the viewers "timely information they [could] relate to" (pg.60) and feel personally connected with. In connecting with the national audience and "engaging constituents directly, he was able to raise a staggering $660 million in campaign contributions." (pg.62) The majority of Obama's campaign contributions were made in denominations lower than $100, which "disrupted the old model of getting giant donations from a handful of donors."
Connecting to the National Audience Like Never Before
Beyond campaign contributions, Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign sparked viral coverage, the likes no other national race has seen. From YouTube to Twitter, Obama was planting the idea of change in the minds of the nation from a position that many younger Americans could understand. Touching on difficult issues such as war, economic decline and the housing crisis palatable to a younger audience.Navigating the social networks had created a domino effect when election day came. A staggering "65 percent of the American population voted in the 2008 election," which was the "highest turnout since 1908." (pg.62)
This video was used during the campaign and is a parody of the successful Budweiser "Wasssup?" commerical used during the 2000 Super Bowl. "Its a great juxaposition of the original ads [and] shows how the lives of these characters have dramatically changed in the past eight years --going from carefree... to being confronted by a shift in global dynamics." (pg.63) Not only was the video humorous enough to go viral easily but it also had a greater sociopolitical point that helped get across Obama's message without being preachy and speaking to the youth audience in their own vernacular.
What do you think other politicians could take away from this campaign? Do you think a campaign of this magnitude can be re-created? How do you think the Obama campaign could have sustained this momentum throughout his second re-election?
References:
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics (2nd Edition).
Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. .
Rhiana,
ReplyDeleteVery clean and well organized post. You images were clear and reflected the overall tone, while your video shared some insight to similar campaigns.
One aspect of your post that I would love to dive deeper into is the image you provided showing statistical data representing the use of social media in the 2008 election. While the image clearly shows Obama had a much larger impact with voters through social media, I think looking further into the demographics of these social networks in 2008 would provide reason to why those numbers differed so much.
This article from NY Times: http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/exit-polls.html outlines voter demographics from the 2008 Presidential Election. If you take a look, you will see the age breakout in the middle of the info graphic shows that McCain had a larger voting turnout within the 18-29 age bracket. Immediately, thinking of the predominant social network user, this shocked me. Many outlets claimed the 18-29 age bracket voted for Obama, however, "exit polls revealed that Obama had won nearly 70 percent of the vote among Americans under age 25—the highest percentage since U.S. exit polling began in 1976" (Dutta, Fraser, 2008). In 2008, that was the largest demographic audience of social media.
Not only did social media dominate the 2008 election, but it served as a foundational platform for campaigns of any nature, including marketing, to begin targeting the future, those who will hold buying power positions when the baby boomer generation leaves the workplace. This turn of events allowed social media to expand beyond a social network and into a powerful tool to convey messages to an audience that was normally not targeted enough.
I encourage you to read this article from US News: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/19/barack-obama-and-the-facebook-election that depicts, truly, what an impact the 2008 election had on the engagement of social networks in a realm that had never been exposed to it. It parallels your findings in your blog, and adds a great amount of detail. Let me know what you think after you have read it.
Excellent job!
References:
NY Times. (2008). Exit Polls. Retrieved on February 12, 2014 from NY Times: http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/exit-polls.html
Dutta, S. and Fraser, M. (2008, November 19). Barack Obama and the Facebook Election. Retrieved on February 12, 2014 from US News: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/19/barack-obama-and-the-facebook-election
Hey Brianna,
DeleteI really loved the article you sent me about Obama and what many called ‘The Facebook Election.’ Only piece that really stood out to me was in reference to the political move into Web 2.0 “as campaigning shifts from old-style political machines toward the horizontal dynamics of online social networks.” (Dutta & Fraser, 2008) This really brought home what you were saying about how social media has laid the foundation for future business (within marketing, politics, etc.) Obama utilization this ‘Facebook Momentum’ allowed his to connect with the younger American audience by letting them into his personal life, “his personal Facebook profile…Obama named his favorite musicians as Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan and listed his pastimes as basketball, writing, and "loafing w/kids." (Dutta & Fraser, 2008)
Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it!
References
Dutta, S., & Fraser, M. (2008, November 19). Barack Obama and the Facebook Election. Retrieved from US News- Opinion : http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/19/barack-obama-and-the-facebook-election
Rhiana,
ReplyDeleteI loved your choice of graphics and the embedded video. It gave life to Qualman's text and illustrated well the points you made. I personally feel that the start of chapter 4 in Socialnomics set the tone for the rest of the chapter, when Andrew Heyward is quoted as saying, "We should be careful of these zero-sum games where the new media drives out the old... I think what we see is growing sophistication about making the channels work together effectively" (Qualman, 2013, pg. 50).
Obama's message was simple, "sticky," and clear. This message was then creatively portrayed in the YouTube commercials he posted, along with the social media platforms he used to distribute the message of change. The messaging was simple, clear, and consistent and appealed to his target audiences.
"All of the Obama supporters who traded their personal information for a ticket to a rally or an e-mail alert about the vice presidential choice, or opted in on Facebook or MyBarackObama can now be mass e-mailed at a cost of close to zero. And instead of the constant polling that has been a motor of presidential governance, an Obama White House can use the Web to measure voter attitudes" (Carr, 2008).
The two-way conversations Obama was able to have with his target audience allowed them to feel like key contributors and reinforced his branding message of change that resonated with many American's dissatisfaction with the present situation.
Not only did this election signify an epic shift in the ability to use social media to engage the masses, but the importance of simplicity in messaging, consistently delivered through multiple channels and monitored for effectiveness.
Great post Rhiana!
References:
Carr, D. (2008, November 9). THE MEDIA EQUATION How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power. Retrieved February 12, 2014, from The New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10carr.html?_r=0
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics (2nd Edition). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hey there Isaac!
DeleteFirst off, I love that you picked out Andrew Heyward’s quote. When I was reading the chapter this quote was one piece that resonated with me because it paints a picture of where social media can take us if it is used effectively. The two-way communication this campaign boasted demonstrated to future community leaders, as well as many other businesses, how easy and effectively you can engage an audience if you just try to understand and relate to them. Today’s society is most easily reached via the web, so using this avenue of communication was not only the right tool in Obama’s arsenal, it was the most tangable.
Thanks for responding!
Hi Rhiana,
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your post this week. The blog looks great with the video and the link. Great choice of video too. I remembered seeing this video a few years back so it was nice to see it again to laugh a little. You can't help but laugh about it. Your choice of video shows is a great example of how the Obama campaign used a funny, young and creative way to get its message across.
I do believe that other politicians need to learn from that campaign because they barely took advantage of social media to reach all generations. They focused on more traditional media tools such as mass media. As the younger generation gets older politicians can no longer ignore that social media needs to be in the center of any campaign.
The following sentence describes well that two-way communications: Open multilateral conversations are much more effective than unilateral communications to your audience, for politics and for business. Social media enables these open conversations. Utilizing free social media tools and placements is more timely and cost effective than traditional advertising. (Qualman, 2013, p.70)
To answer your question I believe the Obama campaign attempted to sustain the social media momentum. They continued to use similar tools to improve communications with voters. That had to influence the overall outcome of the election.
Great Post!
Ana
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics (2nd Edition). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hey Ana,
DeleteI too, thought that the video was funny as well as informative. It was not like many other campaign reals which is why I felt it was so effective, not to mention its non-traditional delivery avenue, YouTube. I really loved this video for its light-hearted spin on difficult topics. I feel it brought home these hard topics that people often hear about but are not always affected by and connected people through these different situations.
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ReplyDeleteRhianna,
ReplyDeleteOther politicians learned from this campaign the power of social media. Social Media enables political candidates to engage in effective two way communication rather than the one way advertising that old political campaigns used to be. Social Media also costs less than traditional marketing. Obama honed in on social media platforms such as twitter and facebook as you have depicted in your post. I believe a campaign of this magnitude can definitely be recreated. Social media has now been around for a much longer time and the platforms are now being more integrated. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and pinterest to name a few are working in tandem to cross promote each other in terms of posts and likes which enables audience to be able to share topics faster.
In order for social media to be a platforms for future campaigns political candidates need to:-
Present a focused message and vision- Obama focused on three key words: Hope, Change, Action ( How Obama Won With Social Media).
Map out your digital landscape- Know the top bloggers, the top social networks, and the central communications hubs( How Obama Won With Social Media).
Build relationships- Listen, be authentic, and ask questions( How Obama Won With Social Media).
Have a clear call to action- Every action in the Obama campaign was geared toward getting people to vote. The sole purpose of online activity was to create offline activity ( How Obama Won With Social Media).
Empower brand ambassadors- Embrace co-creation; let the brand evolve without you directing all of the evolution ( How Obama Won With Social Media)
Reference:
How Obama Won with Social Media. (n.d.). The Dragonfly Effect. Retrieved February 15, 2014, from http://www.dragonflyeffect.com/blog/dragonfly-in-action/case-studies/the-obama-campaign/
Rhiana,
ReplyDeleteI thought you were able to bring up some of the most important findings from the fourth chapter of Socialnomics. Obama was able to open a whole new world to the presidential race; the world of social media. It definitely served a huge role in his success and future presidency. From Facebook to Myspace and Youtube, Obama was superior in every facet, eventually becoming superior in the category of election results. This idea of social media helped him target the younger generation as well. It even opened up two-way communication between voters and his campaign. Different from previous campaigns of the past, now people were able to directly voice their opinions through these social media outlets. People now felt personally connected to a presidential candidate, an emotional connection that wasn't possible before! Overall, I thought you covered the most important aspect from chapter four. It clearly mapped out the importance of social media.