Obama’s use of social media grabs attention of young voters

By Jill Volker
Cardinal Staff

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama had one particular group of voters steadfastly in his corner: the young voter. The excitement and enthusiasm of the younger generation began with Obama’s speech at the Iowa caucus, the success of which carried him to the party’s nomination at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colo., in August.
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Following the caucus, Obama adapted to changes in culture and communications to redefine how campaigns are run through the use of social media, according to a message received by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

In an article from Read Write Web, reporters indicated that the demographics of social media users tend to fall in line more closely with those of today’s Democratic voters. Because of this, the Obama campaign was able to connect with its voter audience through the use of the Web and social media tools. The idea of campaigning through blogs and social networks embodied Obama’s strong connection to voters in their 20s and 30s and further propelled the success of his campaign online.

The young-voter turnout in the presidential election testifies to the effectiveness of Obama’s innovative campaign techniques. Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan group that targets younger voters, reported registering more than 2.5 million new voters under the age of 30 – a historic increase in the younger generation’s vote.

According to junior Travis Fick, one of Saint Mary’s Univeristy’s Obama campaign intern-organizers, Obama catered to a younger generation. “Younger voters saw something in Barack Obama that they did not see in John McCain,” Fick said.

Fick and Ali Kremer, sophomore, were co-campus organizers who were responsible for identifying and registering Obama supporters to vote. Essentially, Fick and Kremer had to maintain a positive image for Obama while reporting to his officials those whom they identified would be voting in the election. By focusing on the campaign’s methods of reaching out to a younger generation, Fick and Kremer created student groups on online social networks, such as Facebook, that gave students the opportunity to become involved as volunteers on Election Day.

“I feel that the use of social media was vital in the Obama campaign overall ... President-elect Barack Obama definitely pushed a level of participation (political involvement), which is what we tried to do with SMU students,” Fick said.

Through the use of social media outlets, Fick, Kremer and their volunteers believe that they encouraged approximately 40 percent of SMU students to vote in the presidential election.