Washington Policy Brief > The Year of Social Media in Politics

The Year of Social Media in Politics

January 05, 2012

Looking back on 2011, The Washington Post outlined how politicians moved into the age of social media. In a December 30 article, the Post reported that 2011 saw more online activity than ever before from U.S. government leaders as they embraced Facebook as a major media outlet.

“Whether fighting for political victory or connecting one-on-one with voters, politicians made 2011 the most social year ever,” wrote Facebook’s politics team on the company blog.

“As we head into 2012, Facebook users can look forward to a Facebook/NBC presidential debate and the vigor of a general election campaign sure to play out across pages, live streams and sponsored stories,” the blog continued.

According to the article, the most memorable political Facebook moments included President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address that streamed live on C-SPAN’s Facebook page and the Republican response that streamed on House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) Facebook page.

During Obama’s address, his senior officials also took questions from Facebook users about topics ranging from foreign policy to the economy.

The Washington Post reported that after the State of the Union address, both political parties invited Facebook users to leave comments about the speeches.

The article also outlined that in March, Texas Governor Rick Perry appeared on a Facebook Live episode from SXSW, and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced his presidential exploratory committee on his Facebook page.

According to the Washington Post, in May, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, and Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) each announced his presidential campaign via their Facebook pages, while Mike Huckabee took to Facebook to explain why he would not be running. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney hosted a Facebook town hall in May, and he formally entered the 2012 race with a live streamed announcement on Facebook in June.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also used a live-streamed press conference on Facebook to announce that he would not be running for president.

Romney’s town hall meeting was just one of many hosted by politicians in 2011. On April 20, the White House hosted a Facebook town hall meeting to discuss the economy and technology’s role in decreasing unemployment, along with the steps to end the war in Iraq. Christie used Facebook for a town hall discussion that focused on education policy, and Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) conducted a live-stream town hall on Facebook as she entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Facebook was also used as a major outlet to communicate about the capture and death of Osama bin Laden. The White House posted photos of the military response to the event and of the situation room that showed Obama and his team as they watched the military operation.

According to the article, members of Congress also used their Facebook pages to discuss the death of bin Laden, including former President George W. Bush and numerous other public figures, who posted statements regarding bin Laden’s death.

In 2011, members of Congress joined with Obama and Facebook to help fight bullying in a series of Facebook Live episodes and posts to their official pages. The article noted that Facebook is a strong platform for speaking out on social issues such as preventing anti-gay bullying. Since the increase in suicides related to the bullying of homosexual teens and young adults, Facebook has put a strong focus on removing bigotry and hatred from its pages.

“Facebook believes in addressing safety issues proactively — and building a trusted environment is fundamental to our mission and to ensuring a positive experience for people who use our site,” Facebook representative Andrew Noyes told Venture Beat in an e-mail.

News items about the civil unrest and political revolution in the Middle East and northern Africa were also hot topics on Facebook in 2011.

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