1. Politics and Social Media
BY GRAHAM KELLER

2. The Beginning
 Political blogging dates back to the 1990’s
 Grew exponentially after September 11th, 2001
 People needed to voice there feelings in uncertain
times and search for information that mainstream
media was not providing.

3. The Beginning
 The same bloggers eventually began to expand to
more general issues of politics like domestic and
foreign policy
 Political elites began using bloggers in their political
campaigns
 By 2004 9% of American internet users visited
political blogs at least “sometimes”
 Any of you read them? Your thoughts?

4. Social Media
 Now, nearly every politician has
Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and even blogs.
 Lobbyists and Activism groups also create accounts
 Social Media sites are now a big part of most political
fundraising campaigns

5. Obama in 2008
 Barack Obama was trailblazing in his use of social
media for his 2008 Presidential Campaign.
 In his campaign he utilized 15 different social media
sites including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and
LinkedIn
 Through his campaigns use of the sites, his campaign
created over 5 million supporters (Facebook
Friends, Twitter followers, etc.)

6. Obama v. McCain
Obama McCain
 Facebook Supporters:  Facebook Supporters:
2,379,102 620,359
 Myspace Supporters:  Myspace Supporters:
836,161 217,811
 Funds Raised Through  Funds Raised Through
August 31st, 2008: August 31st, 2008:
$456,853,990
$204,435,971

7. Obama v. McCain
 Obama had 380% more supporters and raised over
twice as much money
 For comparison, in 2004 Bush raised $256,081,557
and Kerry raised $215,915,455
 Conclusion: Social Media = More Money

8. Public Politics
 Now, more than ever, regular people can have a
strong political voice
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrczoLm7Es

9. Technology Impacting Politics
 In January 2012 Internet users and many major
websites fought back against PIPA and SOPA
 The backlash indluded nearly 200,000 phone calls
(made via Craigslist and Tumblr), 7 million online
signatures (the Google petition), and over 2.4 million
tweets via Twitter.
 Google, Mozilla, Reddit, O’Reilly
Radar, Wikipedia, and thousands of other Websites
protested the acts, including blacking out their Sites

10. Why This Matters
 A loosely organized group of internet leaders and
internet users fought back and outwitted a well-
funded lobbying organization.
 Convinced law-makers to overturn their decision
almost overnight

11. Questions???

12. The End
BY GRAHAM KELLER

13. Sources
 http://con.sagepub.com.offcampus.lib.washington.e
du/content/17/4/445
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-
innovations/social-medias-role-in-
politics/2012/01/25/gIQAQvZgdQ_story.html
 http://nms.sagepub.com.offcampus.lib.washington.e
du/content/12/2/217.full.pdf+html
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrczoLm7Es
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz2zEQPBzAs