Social media networking has become a force to be reckoned with. Presidential candidates throughout the election cycle in the United States turned to various social platforms to promote their campaign mission and message.
The latest survey released today by the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) that collaborated with ORI-the market research and strategic business intelligence firm-findings suggest a transformational effect from these platforms on perceptions and voter behaviour during the 2012 election.
“The election was just another example of how deeply social media has permeated all aspects of our lives, and underscores why it’s so vital for decision-makers to understand how these tools are influencing consumer behavior,” said David Rehr, an adjunct faculty member in GSPM.
This presidential election campaign between re-elected President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney staged different dynamics. By far this election was the most expensive expensive in history, featured massive integration of the digitalization in the election process and captured record-breaking numbers on social networks (Twitter and Facebook).
A non-partisan panel of five people introduced the following details from the study:
• Overall, 29 percent said social media was moderately to extremely influential in their opinions of the candidates and issues.
• Nearly two-thirds (said the quality of information about the candidates and issues on social media was the same or better than that from traditional media.
• Approximately 40 percent participated in a political discussion with others in their social networks and 28 percent said they displayed their political affiliation on their networks.
Social media is a new medium added to the list of traditional news sources. Increasingly the dialogue, participation and call to action is taking place on these sites. Truly the election of 2012 was a social one.
Social Election Survey Results & What it means for Decision Making in 2013
You can find the complete survey results by clicking here. It offers a robust, comprehensive set of results that offer an monumental insight to the social media influence. Below is an excerpt (conclusion) included on the numbers why it was a social election:
- Election Day was the most retweeted event in history
- 31 million tweets
- 327, 425 tweets per minute
2. The most Liked popular photo on Facebook of all time (Photo of Barack Obama embracing Michelle Obama):
- 4.4 million Likes
- 215, 000 comments
- 580,299 shares
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