Friday, April 22, 2011

Politics & Social Media

Thought this was an interesting combo given we will be viewing "The Social Network" later today...Zuckerberg/Facebook/Obama.

So when not the subject of movies or at the receiving end of the ire of Facebook members, Mark Zuckerberg is making news hosting high ranking members of the White House ... foremost, President Obama...and other politicians and celebrities. This past Wednesday at Facebook headquarters in Palo, Alto, California, Zuckerberg conducted a town hall meeting with the President, which was streamed live on Facebook. Some referred to it as Obama 3.0, the beginning of the President’s bid for re-election in 2012 by harnessing the power of social media just as he did for the 2008 election campaign. The President made reference to this power when he talked about how there is nothing we cannot solve if we put the same energy and imagination into the political process as we put into Facebook. Social media has been an effective communication tool for the President thus far. It will be interesting to follow the President’s use of social media in the political arena over the next year as he pursues his re-election bid.

2 comments:

Paige H said...

I think what will be even more interesting is how the other candidates will be using his success as a model for their campaigns. I am curious who will succeed in social media and who will fail miserably.

Xavi Viteri said...

I agree with Paige. It will be interesting to see how the GOP harnesses the power of social media this election cycle. Obama's meeting with Zuckerberg really shows the importance and capacity of social media. Power can be defined, consolidated, or lost through social media.