From Binders to Bayonets: The Power of Social Media in the 2012 Election
From trending topics during the debate to campaigning
efforts over the web, it is undeniable that social media is a powerful resource
in political campaigns today. We can see this both in the planned efforts from
the candidates’ campaign camps to the phrases and posts that do exactly what
social media is supposed to do – go viral and be shared, viewed, retweeted, and
liked by the people. Social media and political campaigns are intertwined and
you can no longer critically analyze a campaign without taking social media
into consideration.
Trent and Friedenberg cover social media and the Internet in
Chapter 11. They state that the use of Twitter in a campaign is to create an
“authentic personal communication” (375). With 140 characters, candidates can
be constantly connected to their constituents and can share information to
persuade voters at literally any time of the day. It also allows campaigns to
monitor responses, take note of the followers who respond, and gives them the
ability to address any specific inquiries. Facebook allows campaigns to share
more information than through Twitter, and more importantly allow targeted
geographical ads for the campaign. Facebook “is an open megaphone to your
community” (372). There is a great source of power in connecting with the
American people through social media and campaigns are quickly beginning to
capitalize on this.
Both presidential candidates have strong presences on
Twitter and Facebook, with both numbering in the hundreds of thousands of likes
and followers. President Obama’s campaign also has a strong presence on Tumblr,
a microblogging website, and optimizes its posts to have a strong connection
with the followers and viewers of the blog and have a number posts with over a
thousand likes and shares. Obama knows the power of social media from his 2008
campaign. A Washington Post article discusses the power of social media within
an election, and states that Obama “announced his vice president through text
message, raised half a billion dollars online” (Weiner) and worked with
Facebook co-creator Chris Hughes to create his own social network. The Romney
camp has also utilized social media with Facebook, Tumblr, and Mitt Romney’s
own iPhone app as well as an app from the RNC.
With the third and final debate airing last night, I
wondered if there would be one phrase in particular that would go viral by the
end of the night. In the second debate, this occurred with Romney’s remark
“binders full of women”. In response to a question prompted by the moderator
Candy Crawley about equal pay for women, Romney spoke about his efforts to hire
more women when he served as governor of Massachusetts. He reached out to
women’s groups, asking from qualified women, and they gave him “binders full of
women”. This phrase immediately caught on in all forms of social media. A
HuffPost article states that “binders” and “binders full of women” were
mentioned on Twitter at one point more than 40,000 times in a minute. This
comment also created a Binders Full Of Women Tumblr account that quickly filled
with memes and a Facebook page that currently has 356,000 likes. Two parody Twitter accounts were created and quickly generated audiences of 13,000 and 32,000 respectively. The word "binders" increased in it's search on Google by 425% during the first hour of the debate, and it was the #3 query of the night (CBS article).
The third debate did not disappoint: Obama
and his “bayonets and horses” remark has gone equally viral. For those in class
today, we saw straight from the debate, the new phrase that has taken over the
Internet. The hashtag #horsesandbayonets quickly became the number one trending
hashtag in the country and third worldwide. At one point in the evening, the
phrase was mentioned nearly 60,000 on Twitter. Similarly to Romney’s remark, a
Horses and Bayonets Tumblr cropped up and a Facebook page was created and
currently has 5,270+ likes. The Obama campaign also capitalized on the moment and bought the search term “bayonets” on Twitter.
Each candidate also took the viral moments of their
opponent to bolster their respective campaigns. Obama responded to the “binders” comment at a rally the following day, taking the opportunity to talk about the Lily Ledbetter Act and how he will work to have new women graduates get equal pay and Biden called the statement a "1950's time warp" (CNN article). The Obama campaign took the opportunity to talk about equal pay for women and focus on their work with important women's issues. In response to the "horses and bayonets" comment, Ryan bolstered Romney's point in the debate that they find faults in how the Obama administration is handling the US military. Ryan stated on CBS' "This Morning" said that Obama's remark confused him, because the "ocean hasn't shrunk" and decreasing our Navy force would not keep our strength abroad where it is needed (HuffPo article). The speed of virality and the
staggering response from the Internet combined with the campaign responses only go to remind us how influential and key social media is
to the political process, especially during this current campaign.
----
If you are interested, here is an interesting article I came across discussing how the "binders of women" statement affects women voters and the campaigns | CNN article
posted by Mileva Brunson | 3:51 PM
13 Comments:
All too true. To be honest, I did not notice the "binders full of women" remark during the debate, but I quickly caught on as soon as I got on facebook and twitter. Although social media can have positive short-term effects for a candidate, I wonder what the long term implications of social media will be for our political process. Does it trivialize campaigns and debates by focusing on the most trivial comments of a debate like "binders full of women" and "horses and bayonets?"
Although social media may highlight political moments that many of the candidates would love to forget, I cannot help but absolutely love what social media has done in regard to political apathy. I believe that because so many people post about what is happening in the political arena, it allows other users to be better informed, even curious as to what all the hype is about. If they saw everyone tweeting about binders full of women, perhaps this would lead them to youtube exactly what everyone is talking about. Maybe they would even view the debate for themselves, just so they can be in the know about what all their friends and followers on social media are talking about. Social media creates a lot of excitement and buzz, even if they hone in on just one phrase and make a joke out of it. At least people are watching.
I am so intrigued by the topic we have been discussing about social media and how we cannot form our own ideas with so many different connections. Throughout all of the debates, I've noticed myself glancing at Twitter and Facebook to see what others' reactions were. It's an addiction I don't think much of society realizes is has. It has definitely become a social norm that can both help and hurt us in terms of politics.
In the past, speeches were highly valued and paid attention to. Now, however, we look for media with good visuals or interesting sound effects. Our attention span has become so short that we almost expect recaps and highlights of events before deciding whether to delve in and examine the entire thing. Due to this, each one of the debates became summed up with one phrase each. While those who didn’t watch the debates might not first understand the reference, the phrase, especially with the help of social media, will soon be seen everywhere. Despite all the harshness of the campaign, it is interesting to be able to make light of what, at time, can be seemingly ridiculous candidate quotes. The social media response definitely reaches out to a larger audience, especially of younger people and those who may not closely follow American politics. It’s entertaining to see what the Internet will come up with, and it is nice to be able to laugh a little during this stressful time. I just hope the stand-out phrases from the debates aren’t all that people take away from the election, as the issues are really what matter.
I think that in today's society of social mediate that often what people say takes on a life of it's own. People say something that strikes the public as funny or outrageous and then it is the hot topic. People cannot stop talking about it. I think it is people's nature to do this. But just like gossip people hear things incorrectly from other sources and then repeat the false information or interpretation. It is a good thing for people to be interested in the debates and talk about them with other but when only bits and pieces that are not as important as the real issues the point gets lost. I think people need to refocus on talking about the issues and less about the entertainment the gain from wrong word choices or entertaining statements. Plus because of social media many people do not know the facts and jump on the bandwagon without knowing the true meanings or what actually was said. Only what they heard on social media.
Before participating in a program this summer and then learning so much from this class, I have to admit that I didn't take much notice to politics. With the upcoming election only about a week away, I have noticed how much I hate when people rant about it on Facebook or when people post their severely strong opinions on Twitter...but there are situations where politics and social media can be good. I think that the buzz about bayonets and horses/binders of women/Big Bird have actually kept me more interested in the campaign. When things like this blow up, I want to be "in the loop", so I actually look into what social media users are talking about and become more informed. But, like I said, there are also annoying moments, such as when people use social media to rant. I guess it might be a double-edged sword of sorts!
This is so true. Social media allows the comments of the candidates to immediately go viral after they have left the mouth of who said it. I will agree with the fact that I love seeing social media during debates and elections. It shows that some people are ignorant and uneducated about the entire election. I feel as though social media also has the ability to compel people to search for a candidate to say or do something wrong, so that they have something to tweet about or post to their facebook. Everyone who blows up social media during debates is typically looking for a reaction from those who read what they have to say.
I feel like social media is such an interesting aspect of a campaign because it is so powerful- if a candidate says one wrong thing everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to know about it. It can be game-changer for a campaign and can cause alot of headaches! It is kind of scary social media can have this large of an impact, it can not and should not be substituted for doing one's own research on a candidate
It is hard to imagine a campaign without social media nowadays! I have to agree with the first comment on saying I too also missed the 'binders' comment. If it wasn't for social media than I may have missed it completely, seconds later my twitter feed was going crazy with it!
I am so glad you posted this because it shows well how important social media has become to society. I don't know what I would do without my phone and even going somewhere to meet someone is dependent on my phone. I feel weird without it. Social issues with politics is one small percentage to all of the other things that get covered with our Twitter and facebook acocunts to name a few. This post gave me much insight and I enjoyed reading the comparisons the social media lingo and how it is used by people. Personally, I love to rant at times with my twitter account (which I am deleting and keep anonymous) but it's fun getting your feelings out there because out of the millions of people, you are not alone and it is nice to know someone else is or has gone through your footsteps.
This is so weel related to what Gina said in more recent post (10/29/2012). I know that this wasn't your main objetice, but the part that says that social media, for a place where everybody can post whatever he/she wants to, can open some space for distraction. In different ways you both treated about distraction that can cost the election of US next president, Gina talking about the presidency and you talking about social media. Definitely an interesting topic.
I am glad to hear that you decided to speak about social media as a important political tool in the election. You are right, you can always depend on twitter to know what was said in a debate or any highly publicized political event. Being that I did my senior comp on social media and political campaigns, you need a good job on the analysis.
I never noticed the "binders full of women" remark. I felt like president Obama's remark of "horses and bayonets" was made into a bigger deal. I think we are not used to seeing Obama talk like that and it came to us as a shock to people. Social media blows every situation out of proportion because it can be spread so fast without thought! Information is at our hands in seconds and it really effects peoples' opinions. I think social media has a huge impact on our world.
Post a Comment
<< Home