I must remember to tweet that !
A big thank you to Lillian King for sharing this really interesting and valuable infographic about the influence of Social Media in Politics, which is very timely before the US Presidential Elections.
After all they reckon that Barack Obama was the first Social Media President ever! (Facebook is credited as playing such a major part in his campaign four years ago)
Have a peep through the very interesting stats and tables shown at the bottom of this post.
The one number that grabs me from the stats is that “In Senate races the candidate with the most fans gets elected 81% of the time”.
Does this mean they were the most popular anyway, or does it mean they connected with more people by using social media effectively helping them to get elected – not sure?
Ireland
For me in the Irish scenario it really bugged me that so many politicians wanted to be “my friend” before the election and now they are nowhere to be scene.
Social Media isn’t a trick – it isn’t a one off opportunity to achieve a specific goal (however this may occur as a once off).
Social Media, for politicians (or businesses for that matter) is an opportunity to build a following, an opportunity to communicate genuine messages, values and beliefs – in this crazy world of ours an opportunity to cut through the BS, show where you are on key issues and let people see what you really stand for.
When the election (Christmas!) is over ….grab that opportunity
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
Fuzion offer Social Media Training and Social Media Consultancy from our offices in Cork and Dublin.
Tags: Elections, Fuzion, Greg Canty, Politics, Social Media
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 
October 30, 2012 at 2:15 pm |
Incredible numbers aren’t they, showing the rise in social media use. I thought the figure indicating that 53% of adults were fact-checking online was very encouraging. It might leads politicians to be more careful about what they come out with.
Your point about politicians at home using social media properly is well made. I wonder do they get it at all?
October 30, 2012 at 6:58 pm |
Thanks for the feedback Fergal – great question re our politicians. So far I don’t think they have fully embraced the opportunity.
November 1, 2012 at 9:14 am
Maybe it’s a case of not understanding that it’s not really a form of advertising; that it’s a two-way process. It holds a lot of promise for those who want to keep in touch with their electorate. The ones who utilise it properly will reap the rewards, I think.
November 2, 2012 at 7:36 pm
spot on Fergal
November 3, 2012 at 12:25 am
Perhaps if they started viewing it as an extension of their constituency office it might start to take on more value.
You could have a market there Greg 😉
November 5, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Fergal – stranger things have happened!!
November 7, 2012 at 8:38 am
Offering social media training to sitting or prospective TDs. If it takes off make sure and give me a credit 😉