Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr… these are tools that just ten years ago hardly existed, yet now these online social media sites are being used so extensively by political candidates that this election is being dubbed the “Social Media Election.” The advantages are many – the tools appeal to the young, the tools are excellent methods to spread announcements, picture, video, and the message of a campaign, and greatest of all – they are free. But the disconnect is that the technology appeals primarily to a demographic that historically has a low participation rate in voting. Is it all worth it? We will all find out on May 2.
