Presidential Campaigning and Social Media: An Analysis of the 2012 CampaignJohn Allen Hendricks, Dan Schill Presidential Campaigning and Social Media: An Analysis of the 2012 Campaign provides an analysis of how political communication has evolved in the twenty-first century and the role of new media technologies in the American democratic process. This is the first book to provide a detailed examination of the role social media and social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, and others played in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries and the general election campaign. Using both quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches, this book thoroughly examines the 2012 campaign's use of each form of social media technology and social networking sites (SNS) and considers which strategies proved effective in connecting with and motivating the electorate to vote. The book's chapters are divided into five areas of analysis that include social media's role in: 1) the process of political communication, 2) political knowledge, 3) presidential primary elections, 4) the presidential general election, and 5) voter and media engagement throughout all stages of the 2012 campaign. New media technologies will continue to be a juggernaut in future political campaigning and this book capitalizes on what the convergence of these factors produced in the 2012 election. |
