Political Activism With Social Media

Social Media Engagement Will Decide Election 2012

Social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs have forever changed how people communicate and how they organize for social and political change.

21st century political candidates and community organizers have swapped yard signs for social media. With Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other new media tools, the traditional relationship between political authority, the main stream news media and "we the people" has been upended, making it easier for "we the people" to collaborate, coordinate, and have a voice in the politics that affect the life of ourselves and our families.

To hear more about how social media engagement has become a critically important strategy for political candidates and community organizing come to the Social Media Day cosponsored by the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County and the Democratic Blog for News.

The Social Media Day will be at the Plano Centre on Saturday September 10th from 9:00am to 12:00pm in the Hillhaven Room. (map)

Suggested Donation of $5 to the TDWCC – pay at the door.

RSVP to events@tdwcc.org

Event sponsors:

Texas Democratic Women of Collin County

Democratic Blog of Collin County

More:

• Social Media Engagement for the 2012 Election
• Political Campaigns in the Digital Age
  
• Texas Democratic Women of Collin County
• The Democratic Blog - News
  

The Mobile Election 2012

Campaigns and Elections: Apps and video will move mobile forward for campaigns in 2012. For campaigns looking to make their mark with mobile in 2012, it’s no longer just about text.

Many online strategists expect SMS to actually take a backseat next year as the presidential cycle ushers in a new world of mobile apps and an expanded use of video.

The reason is simple: Smartphone use has grown exponentially over the past two years, making this coming election cycle the one in which mobile use by campaigns should explode.

In December of 2008, just 14 percent of wireless customers in the U.S. were using smartphones. Now, according to the latest numbers from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than a third of all Americans are using smartphones.

“Research has shown that by the end of 2011, smartphone usage will reach 50 percent,” says Cami Longstreet Zimmer, president of Campaign Touch Mobile Solutions. “Mobile doubles every six months, so having a mobile strategy for your campaign is a must.”

65% Of Online Adults Use Social Networking Sites

Pew Research Center: The pace with which users have flocked to social networking sites has been staggering; in a first survey about social networking sites in February 2005, just 8% of internet users -- or 5% of all adults -- said they used them.

Now, a new survey by Pew internet & American Life Project finds that 65% say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 61% one year ago. Only email and search engines are used more frequently than social networking tools.

That's more than double the percentage that reported social networking site usage in 2008 (29%). And for the first time in Pew Internet surveys, it means that more than half of all adults (51%) use social networking sites.

Among internet users, social networking sites are most popular with women, young adults under age 30, and parents.

Young adult women ages 18-29 are the power users of social networking; fully 89% of those who are online use the sites overall and 69% do so on an average day.

As of May 2011, there are no significant differences in use of social networking sites based on race and ethnicity, household income, education level, or whether the internet user lives in an urban, suburban, or rural environment.

See the full report for a more detailed analysis of how Americans use social networking sites at pewinternet.org.