Author

Hughes, S. G. F., Allbright-Hannah, K., Goodstein, S., Grove, S., Zuckerberg, R., Sladden, C., & Bohnet, B.

Year

2009

Publisher

The European Business Review, 16, 21.

DOI/Link

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Abstract

In early 2007, Barack Obama was a little-known senator running for president against Democratic nominee and household name, Hilary Clinton. But on November 4, 2008, Obama made history as the first African American to win the election against Republican candidate, John McCain, thus becoming the 44th president of the United States. Obama won by a margin of nearly 200 electoral votes and 8.5 million popular votes. Many factors contributed to his
success, but a major one was the way Obama and his Chicago-based campaign team used social media and technology as an integral part of their campaign strategy, not only to raise money, but also, more importantly, to develop a groundswell of empowered volunteers who felt that they could make a difference. Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute said: “No other candidate has ever integrated the full picture the way he [Obama] has, that’s what’s really new about his campaign.”1 Edelman Research analysts said that Obama won by“…converting everyday people into engaged and empowered volunteers, donors and advocates through social networks, e-mail advocacy, text messaging and online video. The campaign’s proclivity to online advocacy is a major reason for his victory

Keywords

Media and Information Literacy