This is the second part of the article on how Mr. Barack Obama used social media to win the presidential elections. Do read the first part of the series

4.    Use of Audio Visual Media:

The campaign managers created a page on Flickr where people could see pictures of his campaigns, his personal moments with his family and as a presidential candidate reaching out to people. All these visuals created a sense of him being there everywhere. It gave the opportunity for people to follow his campaign virtually and see the success he was getting in each state.

On his separate channel on You Tube, there are more than 1800+ video snippets uploaded with close to 20 million views. These numbers may still look small when compared to TV but remember all this publicity is FREE. In fact, so famous were Obama’s videos, that it induced Will.i.am to come out with a music video “Yes We Can”

5.  Voter Participation:

Barack Obama paid special attention in targeting the 18-25 year old segment to vote this elections. And this strategy paid off. People from that age group got interested in the election process and came out in large numbers to vote for the first time in America. He created a big voter base for himself that otherwise didn’t exist for all this time. He made them participate in this election. He made them realize that their individual vote can ‘make a change’. Because he made the effort of reaching out to them in their way, young voters started running campaigns for him in their universities to gather and unfluence undecided voters.

6.  Customized Content:

Care was taken to customize the content on each of his profile towards the target audience of that particular site.  So on Eons, he mentions about his parents and how he was raised. Also mentions the different places he has grown up in and the community work he was involved with in Chicago. It is impossible for someone who is part of that community not being moved or connected with the writing that was put up on his profile. He created a widget that would help the boomers track where they had to go to vote. On his site for Latinos, all mentions are in Spanish so that he can reach out to more people

7.  Use of widgets:

Not to be done with just social networking sites, Obama’s profile was created on twitter which got used more for announcements. The Obama campaign’s social network, MyBarackObama.com, includes a page that specifically invites users to copy codes that install campaign logos, photos, and icons on their personal Web sites, which then link back to a campaign donation page. Created widgets on myth and rumour bustors about elections. People could stay up to date on the latest events unfolding in the country.

Was it only Social Media that did the trick?

Well, while social media has definitely helped Barack Obama become the President, it is not to undermine his own charishma, his views and stand point on several issues and his ability to connect with the people. Without these basic human qualities, all the above remains nothing but tools.

So what happens to all this now:

Well, I hope that the president elect doesn’t just leave all social media platforms high and dry. He can use it to communicate his policy decisions to people and reach out to them during his entire term. He can use the tools as listening post. Know what people really want and get feedback on his actions from there.

It also won’t be surprising to note that several politicians across the world would start using social media tools as part of their campaign. I for one will be keenly observing what happens during elections in India. Will any politician of our country rise up and reach out genuinely to Indians at large.