Social Media and the College Vote in the 2012 Election

Social Media and the College Vote in the 2012 Election Flickr / DonkeyHotey Obama held the overwhelming support of the college demographic in the 2008 election, but he now faces the obstacle of the rising cost of education and the decline of available jobs after graduation: a reality that Romney will not let students forget. To ensure that he doesn’t lose supporters, Obama began campaigning on college campuses during the Republican National Convention. So how does one win over students? They are caught in between their parents’ political views and those that they are forming for themselves, and as a result are a relatively unstable population to hold on to. If the candidates want to win over college students, they have to meet them where they are: online. Students rarely take the time to read the paper or even watch the evening news. For better or for worse, the population of collegiate scholars is generally apathetic when it comes to staying informed on current events. Students want their news like they want their food: fast and cheap. They rely on twitter, facebook, and YouTube to form their view on what is important and what isn’t. 73% of students are actively engaging in social media. Half of students rely on a form of social media as a news source. This means that for the 2012 election, having a strong social media presence is vital. Here’s a look at how the candidates are doing thus far… OBAMA                                                                ROMNEY Facebook 28,108,815 likes Twitter 19,189,697 followers Facebook 5,992,278 likes Twitter 1,004,884 followers Based on social media alone, it can be predicted that President Obama will yet again dominate the college vote if Romney doesn’t make more of an effort to hold a strong social media presence. He can talk all day long about the rising costs of education, but if its not online, the students will not hear it. Works Consulted: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/infographic-college-students-twitter-use_n_1581344.html