Republican Donald Trump wants to #LockHerUp. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s supporters are standing their ground days before the election, declaring #ImWithHer.
More than in any previous presidential election, experts say, social media are playing a key role in the fight for voters’ hearts and minds.
Town halls and rallies are still important, but the front lines in the battle for the White House are shifting as more people get their news on social media.
“Social media is more of a doorway to the rest of the campaign. You get your hard-core supporters to follow you on Twitter and Facebook, and the goal from that point is to get them to share your stuff with their friends,” said Laura Olin, who was the social media director for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and is now a marketing consultant for Precision Strategies. “A message they get from their friend is more compelling than a message they would get from a campaign.”
From January to October, 109 million Americans on Facebook generated 5.3 billion likes, posts, comments and shares about the election, according to the company. Campaigns are also tapping into the audiences on Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other sites.
But voters are skeptical about the information they read on social media, and some political scientists question how effective the flurries of text, photos and videos are at attracting swaying undecided voters. When discussing politics with people share their views, about 59 percent of social media users found it stressful and frustrating, while only 35 percent found it interesting and informative, a recent Pew survey found.
Some voters say they’re taking social media posts with a grain of salt, raising questions about whether candidates’ messages are getting lost in the din.
“I feel like there’s a little bit of disillusionment that has crept in,” said Steven Weber, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Information and Department of Political Science. “We expect people to spend too much time reading what they already agree with. We expect crazy tweet storms that very few people pay serious attention to other than when they’re absurd and make people angry.”
Nonetheless, Trump’s barrage of late-night tweets has shaped the campaign in ways previously unseen in a U.S. presidential election. His controversial post suggesting former Miss Universe Alicia Machado appeared in a sex video was brought up during the second presidential debate, where Trump was asked if the tweet demonstrated the discipline of a good leader.
“Tweeting happens to be a modern-day form of communication,” Trump said. “I mean, you can like it or not like it.”
But it’s not just words that are grabbing voters’ attention. More social media users have been watching recorded and live video on websites, giving candidates opportunities to interact with voters in ways they haven’t in previous election cycles. Twitter and Facebook live-streamed the presidential debates.
Don Seymour, Facebook’s U.S. politics and government outreach manager, said campaigns are doing a lot more on social media than in the past.