Whoever you voted for on Tuesday, it was interesting to note how technology, and specifically, social media helped to send Barack Obama to the White House. The Obama team not only was committed to its 50 state strategy, but they really wanted to connect to individuals throughout the country.
The Website
With a well-designed website, they were able to successfully attract donors ready to give to the cause. You didn’t have deep pockets? They didn’t mind, five dollars was OK with them, making the era of the big donor irrelevent. And guess, what, they even have a surplus of funds to help with the next election – that’s astounding.
Other website observations:
- While you have to register for an account to make a comment, the blog actually allowed two-way communication.
- Tools for local organization were deep and wide, making grassroots gathering possible.
- An online store made it easy to purchase schwag and show your support on your back, your car, or anywhere you wanted.
Social Media
Where else could you find Obama online? Anywhere you might already be hanging out. He has a visible presence in these places: Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Twitter, Eventful, LinkedIn, and more. His campaign showed an obvious mastery of spreading the word via audio, video, and tweeting, phone text messages, and email. We especially liked the iPhone app!
In the end, Barack Obama made it possible to get involved in the process. The younger generation, who cut their teeth on tech, responded to his message and they came out in droves to vote for him. To be fair to print media, newspapers flew off the shelf the day after his victory.
It will be interesting to see what our first tweeting President will do with the new media during his term. Blog.on, Obama!