My topic will analyze President Obama as the first president during the social media age and how he embraced social media during his two terms in the White House. I will specially focus on his efforts to reach the younger demographic of Americans and millennials on social media platforms and whether his strategy was successful. Now in the 2016 presidential election, we have become accustomed to political figures using social media to connect with the public. However, the eight to ten years ago this was not the norm in politics as old media did not completely shift to new media and convergence media.
President Obama entered the White House during the emerging social media world of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Before President Obama, political figures were often perceived as aloof and the average person could not relate or connect with politicians. These platforms served as usefully and accessible way to reach "more people without the filter of the traditional media, target its audience with precision and receive almost immediate feedback.” However, with the use of social and digital media has the President became more #relate able?
Questions to discuss in the project:
Was Obama successful in his social media strategy?
Did he gain more supporters of his political views from social media?
Did he successfully connect with the younger audience?
What are the benefits and risks of political figures using social media?
Links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/obama-social-media_n_7215298.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2015/05/26/heres-how-the-first-president-of-the-social-media-age-has-chosen-to-connect-with-americans/
This is a really interesting topic. I think it would be interesting to see if there was an opposite effect as well. Did him being able to connect with the public have any affects on his decision making?
ReplyDeleteGreat topic! Social media has definitely become a powerful outlet for President Obama and has allowed him to capture attention from millennials. You could also look into whether presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be as successful during this media era due to their age and constant attacks on one another through websites like Twitter. Here's an article relating to the topic if you're interested:http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/07/28/on-social-media-hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump-take-different-approaches-to-connect-with-voters/
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