Social Media and Presidential Candidacy

With Obama being the first presidential candidate to embrace the technology of social media in order to branch out to the people of the United States, one must wonder if this will become the new trend in future elections, or whether it is something that only Obama himself will choose to use.

To start, I believe that by embracing social media, Obama put himself in a better position than his opposition by utilizing what his opponents did not, and put him at a closer connection to his current and potential supporters. This I believe gave him an edge and in extent, a decent portion of his victory.

This year, his major opposition, Mitt Romney, has also been seen taking up social media as a tool to try and help ensure his own victory. But in a way, one must wonder if this is because Obama is continuing to use social media once again, or because it has become a mandatory tool to use.

By Obama using it in 2008, I believe he set a new standard for the United States election, by means of what a candidate should be doing to help rally support. If only one candidate used it, they would be covering more ground than the others, and thus putting them at a disadvantage. In extension, making candidates notice that in order to keep up with the rest of the competition, they must adapt to this new approach as well.

At the same time however, it will then also depend on who will use social media in the next election. This term will be Obama’s last intentional term in office, and so any future elections will depend on who chooses to embrace social media next.

I do believe however, that whoever campaigns for office in the future will continue to use social media regardless, as it is too good of a resource for them not to.