Monday, March 24, 2008

Barack Obama- a friend of social media


The project for excellence in Journalism analyzed the websites for the 2008 presidential candidates for compatibility with social networking. Apparently, "Candidate Web sites have fully embraced politics as a two-way conversation with voters. Twelve sites also offer the opportunity for visitors to turn that dialogue into grassroots action (organizing their own events, fundraisers, etc)." The data shows that the democrats have the most interactive sites, led by Barack Obama, then Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson.

Obama's site was the most successful in engaging voters and allowing participation. Factors contributing to his standing at the top include open comments, citizen blogs, and interaction with social networking sites like Myspace.

2 comments:

Tyler said...

I have to agree with that study. Obama's website is really functional, user friendly, and has an aesthetically pleasing layout. Overall, it is better than most websites out there on the internet, much less sites for candidates! It's good to see the amount of interaction the candidates are putting into this election, because it really makes our generation feel like our voices are being heard for the first time in a long time.

KrystleRose said...

Obama is really tapping into social media and has realized the extent of its force and popularity. I think that is why his audience is alot of college students, and I feel he can relate to us better.