It’s Election Day in America, and there’s never been a presidential race so close in my lifetime. Something which I find both really exciting and nauseating.
But that’s a good thing because it means I care who will be announced as the winner late tonight. I really care a whole lot, actually, for a whole number of reasons, but that isn’t why I’m writing this.
I think it’s amazing that Twitter has proven a great portal for democracy, where everyone, from every place can communicate with anyone, in any place, their feelings on everything from the US economy, marriage equality, and to the likeable or not so likeable mannerisms of the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. It’s a freedom of ours that we get to see happen in real-time, whenever we want to, but most especially during the Democratic and Republican conventions, the Presidential debates, and other noteworthy campaign events.
And yet, that’s not it. We’ve already seen the wonders of how brands, production companies, and other businesses can utilize Twitter to gain recognition through the use of Twitter’s Promoted Trends and Promoted Tweets. Both are great ways to allow fans to spread awareness of a new movie, an unofficial holiday (i.e., Black Friday), or something else to garner the attention of potential sales from customers.
And they are tools that the Obama and Romney campaigns have used efficiently, which I’m intrigued by. Four years ago, there were no such things as the Top Trends. There were no such things as Twibbons or automatic updates to your Twitter accounts from third parties. And yet, even back then, the media credited social media for the increased awareness and number of voters at the polls.
What will they say this time around, what with the new and more effective tools of Twitter and social media today?
Sure, the comedic memes created and spread across Tumblr will be noted, as will the speed at which phrases from the conventions and debates took over the top trends on Twitter. But what I really think ought to be credited, is the willingness of supporters of both parties to actively use the promoted trends set by their respective parties.
The willingness of average Americans, all across the country using the Promoted Trends they’ve seen, whether it’s #Forward or #CantAfford4More, really says something. It demonstrates that voters believe in democracy on the platforms that advocate this ideology the most, that they support the government utilizing these portals, and they support the growing transparency of politics and culture in this century.
This is what 4 years have done, and I think that’s great progress.
