Roundup: Social networking sites become battleground for politicians in U.S.

Roundup: Social networking sites become battleground forpoliticians in U.S.

by George Bao

LOS ANGELES, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Social networking sites such asFacebook, Twitter, YouTube have become a new battleground forAmerican politicians to woo voters and reach out to theconstituents.

For politicians, the most important thing is to get voters'support, and the way to reach out to the voters is traditionallygoing through major TV networks. For scores of years, politicianshave heavily relied on TV networks to win voter support eitherthrough news coverage or advertising.

However, the tradition was broken by Barack Obama when he firstran for the U.S. presidency in 2008. While still depending ontraditional media such as TV networks and newspapers, Obama paidmuch attention to social networking sites.

Obama is not the first candidate to use social networking sites.Before him, in the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Howard Dean whowas widely tipped to win the Democratic Party's presidentialnomination, started to use the Internet heavily for his electioncampaign. He read blogs, organized rallies through meetup.com andemailed people to organize events. News archives from 2004 showedthousands of articles on how amazing his use of the Internet was.

Howard Dean failed in the election, but his use of the Internethas proved effective. In 2008 the landscape has changeddramatically. In four years social media got rapid development, andInternet usage in general has skyrocketed. In 2004 it was a teenagenovelty, four years later it has become the main way friends andfamily communicate on-line. Barack Obama's campaign team used socialmedia better than anyone else and it gave them a huge advantage.

Obama had more Facebook fans than his competitor. The number ofObama supporters on Facebook on election day in 2008 was 3 million,while the number of the Republican candidate John McCain supporterson Facebook on election day was 600,000.

Comparing with traditional media, social networking sites aremore personal, all the fans are friends and they can communicateeach other, although not face-to-face, but through the Internet thevideos and voices play the role. It is two-way communication ratherthan one way.

The 2012 U.S. presidential campaign is expected to be more socialnetworking oriented. Obama decided to use social networking sitesinstead of the traditional media to announce his re-election bid onApril 4.

Obama made the announcement in an email to supporters,accompanied by a video on YouTube.

"We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does notstart with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- withpeople organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co- workers,and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build," Obamawrote in the email

Last Wednesday, President Obama traveled to California to have atown hall meeting at the headquarters of Facebook, the hugelypopular social networking site.

"The main reason we wanted to do this is, first of all, becausemore and more people, especially young people, are getting theirinformation through different media. And obviously what all of youhave built together is helping to revolutionize how people getinformation, how they process information, how they're connectingwith each other," said Obama through live broadcast on Facebook.

"And historically, part of what makes for a healthy democracy,what is good politics, is when you've got citizens who are informed,who are engaged. And what Facebook allows us to do is make sure thisisn't just a one-way conversation; makes sure that not only am Ispeaking to you but you're also speaking back and we 're in aconversation, were in a dialogue. So I love doing town hallmeetings. This format and this company I think is an ideal means forus to be able to carry on this conversation," said the U. S.president.

Obama has about 20 million Facebook fans on his personal page,and the White House official page has another 975,000 fans.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said that in this age ofTwitter, YouTube and dwindling viewership of broadcast evening news,a president must use every resource available.

"It's a mix of traditional media, new media, national media,regional media," Carney told reporters. "You've got to reachAmericans where they are."

Republicans, who usually lag behind than Democrats in usingsocial networking sites, have now realized the importance to use thenew media. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is working hard onsocial networking sites and has 2,911,000 Facebook fans.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney announced his 2012campaign on Twitter, and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty hastaped a series of videos for YouTube. They are looking to borrowfrom Obama's earlier campaign's techniques.

Politicians at federal and local levels have also relied heavilyon social networking sites to communicate with voters.

Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman in the U.S. Congress,told Xinhua that she does indeed have Facebook, Twitter and YouTubeaccounts and her office uses them very regularly.

The Congresswoman's Facebook page has been up for over a year andthe number of fans is in the thousands. The Twitter account is morerecent, opened within the last year and like the Facebook page isstill growing.

These are great tools that Congresswoman Chu uses to connect withvoters of all different ages and backgrounds. It allows her a directavenue to respond to questions from constituents in real time.

For example, she said that just a few weeks ago when the countrywas facing the government shutdown, a constituent asked on herFacebook account whether Congressional members would still begetting paid if the government shut down.

Chu said she was able to immediately reply that she believedCongressional members should forego their pay in that situation andvowed that, if there were a shutdown, she would donate her salary tocharity.

"That is just one example of the openness, transparency andaccess that social media provides to constituents when dealing withtheir elected officials," she said.

She said she has used the Facebook and Twitter accounts to lether comment on legislation as it is being debated, to call attentionto press releases and events in her district, and to retweet otherposts of interest to her and her constituents.

"They have become indispensable tools in the political andgovernment arena," she said.

Mike Eng, Assemblyman in California, told Xinhua that he has over2,000 Facebook fans now and the number is increasing. He is usingFacebook to post press releases, event photos and to communicatewith constituents and members of the community.

Eng said he uses those social networking sites to inform thegeneral public or his friends what's happening in the State Capitoland it will get young people more involved because they are moreused to this new method of communication.