Power of Social Media Networks
Many say that while Hillary Clinton may have “won” the Democratic debate last week, Bernie Sanders may have gained the biggest advantage. Throughout the 24 hours surrounding the debate, Sanders dominated all social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and even Google searches. He has been losing to Clinton by a large margin in most polls leading up to the debate, but had more than twice the number of social media mentions than she did in the time surrounding the debate. He also gained more than 24,400 followers following the debate, while Clinton gained only 7,700. There was also a hashtag that Sanders’ team created and supported to be used during the debate, called #DebatewithBernie, which obviously helped create the large number of tweets concerning him. Sanders has been trying to connect with the people of the United States through Facebook and Twitter much more than Clinton has.
This article is related to our class because Bernie Sanders’ campaign team realizes the power of social media and the network it has created. The number one advantage a candidate can have over another is popularity. While Hillary Clinton is undoubtedly more known across the world than Bernie Sanders is due to her husband being the president of the United States from 1993 to 2001, Bernie is gaining ground with his strategy of using social media to increase the size of his network. Gaining one follower will potentially lead to his or her friends’ support, which could lead to their friends’ support, which could continue to grow exponentially. Social media is one of the largest networks that exist today, and is probably the most effective way to reach and gain the support of millions of people. If Clinton continues to pretty much ignore social media while Sanders and his team put more and more money into it, Sanders could soon see his popularity and support soar past that of Clinton, and he may soon take over the polls.
http://www.cnet.com/news/social-media-crowns-a-winner-in-the-democrats-presidential-debate/