The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain


The
correlation
between
the
use
of
social
media
Web
sites
among


different
age
groups
and
the
influence
of
such
sites
on
the
2008


presidential
election.


by


Dave
Rigotti


An
adaption
of
his
thesis
as
partial
fulfillment
of
the
requirements
for
the

Bachelor
of
Business
Administration
Degree
with
Honors
in
Marketing

from
The
University
of
Toledo.



 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







About
the
Author





 Dave
Rigotti
is
a
writer,
speaker,
and
Internet


marketer.
He’s
work(s/ed)
with
some
of
the
most
well‐

known
and
influential
brands
in
the
world,
conducting


search
engine
optimization
and
developing
marketing


communication
strategies.
In
July,
he
will
be
joining


Microsoft
as
a
consumer‐focused
marketer
on
Bing


(formerly
Live
Search),
Microsoft’s
search
engine.



 Dave
recently
graduated
from
The
University
of
Toledo
(BBA
with
Honors,
magna


cum
laude,
2009)
after
majoring
in
marketing
and
entrepreneurship,
family
and
small


business.
This
PDF
is
an
adaptation
of
his
thesis.



 Be
sure
to
visit
his
blog
and
follow
him
on
Twitter.



 II

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Disclaimer
/
Legal
Information



All
contents
copyright
C
2008
‐
2009
by
Dave
Rigotti.
All
rights
reserved.
No
part


of
this
document
or
the
related
files
may
be
reproduced
or
transmitted
in
any
form,
by


any
 means
 (electronic,
 photocopying,
 recording,
 or
 otherwise)
 without
 the
 prior


written
permission
of
the
publisher.


Limit
 of
 Liability
 and
 Disclaimer
 of
 Warranty:
 The
 publisher
 has
 used
 its
 best


efforts
in
preparing
this
book,
and
the
information
provided
herein
is
provided
"as
is."


Dave
 Rigotti
 makes
 no
 representation
 or
 warranties
 with
 respect
 to
 the
 accuracy
 or


completeness
 of
 the
 contents
 of
 this
 book
 and
 specifically
 disclaims
 any
 implied


warranties
of
merchantability
or
fitness
for
any
particular
purpose
and
shall
in
no
event


be
 liable
 for
 any
 loss
 of
 profit
 or
 any
 other
 commercial
 damage,
 including
 but
 not


limited
to
special,
incidental,
consequential,
or
other
damages.


Trademarks:
 This
 book
 identifies
 product
 names
 and
 services
 known
 to
 be


trademarks,
registered
trademarks,
or
service
marks
of
their
respective
holders.
They


are
used
throughout
this
book
in
an
editorial
fashion
only.




 III

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Abstract




Research
was
conducted
to
determine
which
main
presidential
candidate
of
the


2008
presidential
election,
Barack
Obama
or
John
McCain,
was
more
effective
at
using


social
media
and
the
impact
these
efforts
had
on
obtaining
votes,
with
a
breakdown
by


age.



 IV

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Acknowledgements


 


This
thesis
is
dedicated
to
my
parents,
Dave
and
Connie
Rigotti,
who
have
always


supported
my
numerous
endeavors.



 I’d
 also
 like
 to
 thank
 Professor
 Carol
 Sullinger,
 Dr.
 Thomas
 W.
 Sharkey,
 Dr.


Ainsworth
A.
Bailey,
ShareThis,
eMarketer,
and
everyone
else
who
helped
me
in
writing


this
thesis.



 V

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Table
of
Contents



About
the
Author ...........................................................................................................................II

Disclaimer
/
Legal
Information .............................................................................................. III

Abstract............................................................................................................................................IV

Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................... V

Table
of
Contents ..........................................................................................................................VI

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1

Candidates’
Web
Sites .................................................................................................................. 7

Social
Networking........................................................................................................................10

Facebook ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Myspace ......................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Digg.................................................................................................................................................................................. 14

Twitter............................................................................................................................................................................ 15

Collaboration ................................................................................................................................18

Meetup ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Media ...............................................................................................................................................20

Flickr ............................................................................................................................................................................... 20

YouTube......................................................................................................................................................................... 21

Voting
Results ...............................................................................................................................25

References......................................................................................................................................29







 VI

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Introduction




The
 Internet
 has
 played
 an
 integral
 role
 over
 the
 past
 few
 years
 in
 public


elections.
In
fact,
according
to
research
gathered
and
reported
by
eMarketer
Inc.,
64%


of
 U.S.
 adult
 Internet
 users
 agree
 that
 the
 Internet
 has
 become
 important
 for
 the


campaign
 process
 in
 2008.i
 Additionally,
 24%
 of
 U.S.
 adults
 learned
 about
 the


presidential
 campaigns
 through
 the
 Internet
 in
 2008,ii
 making
 it
 the
 5th
 most
 used


source.



Is
 online
 success
 enough
 to
 significantly
 influence
 a
 presidential
 election,


especially
since
politics
are
so
fragmented?
A
2007
New
York
Times
article
wrote:


Some
experts…
cautioned
against
overstating
the
potential
ramifications


of
the
Internet
divide.
After
all,
Mr.
Dean’s
candidacy,
which
stalled
after


the
Iowa
caucuses,
showed
that
runaway
success
online
is
not
enough.iii


So,
we
get
to
the
question:
What
is
the
correlation
between
the
use
of
social


media
Web
sites
among
different
age
groups
and
the
influence
of
such
sites
on
the


2008
presidential
election?




However,
before
explaining
this
issue,
it
first
needs
to
be
noted
that
“influence”


is
 an
 arbitrary
 idea.
 Technically,
 a
 non‐voter
 could
 have
 influenced
 the
 results
 of
 the


election.
Unfortunately,
it’s
not
possible
to
filter
non‐voters
out
of
social
media
sites,
so


they
 are
 counted
 in
 data
 collected.
 However,
 the
 exit
 poll
 numbers
 reflect
 only
 U.S.


citizens
over
the
age
of
18
who
voted.




 1

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






Another
 parameter
 to
 establish
 for
 the
 purposes
 of
 this
 thesis,
 is
 the
 sites


included
 in
 social
 media.
 They
 are:
 social
 networking,
 social
 aggregation,
 blogs,
 and


video
 and
 photo
 sites.
 Included
 sites
 were
 subjectively
 chosen,
 based
 on:
 size,


candidates’
presence
on
site,
and
potential
for
facilitating
influence.



Web
site
research
was
conducted
the
two
weeks
prior
to
the
election,
October
20


through
 November
 3,
 2008,
 with
 supporting
 research
 and
 writing
 from
 November
 4


through
February
5,
2009.



This
 paper
 will
 be
 looking
 at
 both
 campaigns’
 Web
 sites,
 Facebook,
 Flickr,


Youtube,
 Myspace,
 Twitter,
 Meetup,
 Technorati,
 and
 Digg.
 Actually,
 to
 put
 reach
 of
 all


the
 sites
 into
 perspective,
 below
 is
 a
 graph
 of
 their
 U.S.
 monthly
 unique
 visitors


according
to
Compete.com
(NOTE:
All
data
provided
by
Compete.com
is
of
U.S.
visitors


age
18
or
greater).



 2

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain









As
you
can
see,
youtube,
myspace,
facebook,
digg,
and
flickr
dominate
the
social


media
scene,
all
having
20
million
or
more
U.S.
unique
visitors
in
September.
However,


how
did
the
campaigns
use
these
sites
and
how
effective
were
they
to
each
candidate?


Isolating
 the
 smaller
 sites,
 twitter,
 technorati,
 and
 meetup
 all
 had
 roughly
 the


same
U.S.
unique
visitors
at
roughly
between
2
and
3
million.



 3

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain









According
 to
 data
 provided
 by
 Compete,
 Inc.,
 selected
 social
 media
 sites
 sent


hundreds
 of
 thousands
 of
 visitors
 to
 both
 the
 Obama
 and
 McCain’s
 official
 campaign


Web
sites
in
September
2008.




The
reason
for
providing
these
graphs
is
to
show
the
potential
for
influence
with


the
candidates’
sites
as
reference.
The
more
traffic
a
site
has,
generally,
the
more
reach,


or
number
of
people,
it
has
to
influence.



 4

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Visitors
Referred
to
Candidates'
Site

meetup.com


twitter.com

Social
Media
Site


jlickr.com


digg.com

McCain

myspace.com

Obama

youtube.com


facebook.com


0
 20000
 40000
 60000
 80000
 100000
 120000


Number
of
U.S.
Unique
Visitors,
ages
18+,
Sept.
08



Of
the
selected
social
media
Web
sites,
Facebook
was
most
effective
at
sending


traffic
 to
 the
 official
 campaigns’
 Web
 sites,
 followed
 by
 YouTube
 and
 Myspace,


respectively.
 Low
 impact
 sites
 included
 Meetup,
 Twitter,
 Flickr,
 and
 Digg,
 all
 sending


less
than
20,000
visitors
to
each
campaign’s
site
in
September.
However,
what
type
of


traffic
 are
 they
 sending?
 Were
 the
 referred
 visitors
 even
 of
 age
 to
 vote
 and
 located
 in


the
U.S.?
This
data,
among
other
data,
is
what
I’ll
look
at
in
each
site’s
breakdown.


ShareThis
isa
company
that
has
created
a
small
widget,
or
a
small
application
on


a
Web
site,
that
allows
users
to
share
a
specific
Web
site
with
friends
via
social
media,


email,
and
others.
Their
widget
tracked
what
articles
were
being
shared,
based
on
the


keywords
of
“obama,”
“biden,”
“mccain,”
and
“palin”.
The
results
are
below:



 5

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Election
Sharing
Activity

100%

90%

80%

Percentage
of
Shares


70%

60%

50%
 Obama

40%
 Biden

30%
 McCain


20%
 Palin


10%

0%

4‐Sep

11‐Sep

18‐Sep

25‐Sep

2‐Oct

9‐Oct

14‐Aug

21‐Aug

28‐Aug

24‐Jul

31‐Jul


16‐Oct

23‐Oct

30‐Oct

7‐Aug


Date





Obama
had
roughly
50
to
90
percent
of
sharing
activity
until
August
2008
when


McCain
announced
Sarah
Palin
as
his
running
mate.
Up
until
the
first
week
of
October


2008,
Palin
had
much
more
success
than
Obama
or
McCain
in
sharing
activity,
with
her


highest
 day
 achieving
 72
 percent
 of
 shares.
 However,
 as
 the
 election
 neared,
 Palin’s


sharing
activity
drastically
declined,
while
Obama’s
rose.
Sharing
is
defined
as
telling
a


contact,
or
friend,
about
the
article
or
Web
site,
through
the
ShareThis
widget.



 6

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Candidates’
Web
Sites





 Before
 we
 take
 a
 look
 at
 the
 social
 media
 Web
 sites,
 let’s
 first
 look
 at
 the


candidates’
Web
site
demographics
to
understand
the
type
of
visitors
they
attracted.


Looking
 at
 the
 candidates’
 Web
 site
 visitor
 age,
 we
 see
 that
 barackobama.com


attracted
 a
 slightly
 higher
 percentage
 of
 voter‐aged
 visitors
 as
 a
 percentage
 of
 total


visitors,
 when
 compared
 to
 johnmccain.com,
 according
 to
 data
 compiled
 on


Compete.com.


Age
Groups
as
a
Percentage
of
Total

Visitors

40

30

Percent


20

barackobama.com

10

johnmccain.com

0

18‐34
 35‐49
 50+

Age
Group




Also
 using
 data
 provided
 by
 Compete.com,
 we
 see
 that
 barackobama.com
 had


nearly
double
the
unique
visitors
of
johnmccain.com
in
September
2008,
as
shown
on


the
graph
below:



 7

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain









This
 is
 an
 indication
 that
 the
 Web
 was
 more
 utilized
 by
 the
 Obama
 campaign


when
 compared
 to
 the
 McCain
 campaign;
 however
 visitor
 numbers
 don’t
 necessarily


translate
into
raising
campaign
dollars,
or
more
importantly,
actual
votes
come
election


day.
 Approximately
 100,000
 more
 visitors
 to
 barackobama.com
 was
 through
 social


media,
based
on
the
social
media
referrer
data.



Next,
each
of
the
social
media
sites
will
be
individually
analyzed.
I
will
be
looking


at
each
candidate’s
presence
on
the
site,
the
age
of
users,
and
the
potential
for
voting


influence.



 8

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






Blogs


Technorati



 Technorati,
a
site
best

Technorati
Search
Results

known
 for
 it’s
 blog
 search


engine,
 provides
 results
 of


blog
posts
based
on
keyword


search.
 While
 it
 only
 returns
 Obama


McCain

keyword
 usage,
 and
 not
 the


context
 of
 the
 message,
 we


can
 still
 determine
 which


candidate
received
more
mentions
on
blogs
at
large,
an
indication
of
blog
share
of
voice.


It
 needs
 to
 be
 noted
 that
 I
 could
 not
 segment
 based
 on
 blog
 country
 origin,
 so


results
include
international
blogs
as
well
as
U.S.
blogs.


Above,
 we
 see
 that
 “obama”
 returned
 over
 650,000
 results,
 and
 “mccain”


returned
just
over
500,000
results
on
the
search
engine.
This
indicates
Obama’s
share


of
blog
voice,
or
the
overall
blog
coverage,
is
roughly
30%
higher
than
McCain’s.


While
 just
 blog
 mentions
 don’t
 indicate
 tone
 of
 message,
 Obama
 clearly
 had
 a


higher
share
of
voice
than
McCain
on
blogs.



 9

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Social
Networking

Facebook




Facebook,
 one
 of
 the
 most
 dominate
 social
 media
 Web
 sites,
 had
 28.21
 million


visits
in
September
from
people
who
are
18
years
of
age
or
older
and
residing
in
the
U.S,


based
on
data
provided
by
both
Compete.com
and
Quantcast.com.


Obama
spent
more
advertising
dollars
on
Facebook
than
any
of
the
other
social


media
sites.


Actually,
from
January
through
August,
the
Obama
Campaign
spent
nearly


$112,000
on
Facebook,
according
to
ClickZ.iv


Facebook
 representation
 can
 be
 measured
 in
 two
 ways.
 First,
 by
 using


Facebook’s
 advertisement
 targeting
 feature,
 the
 number
 of
 profiles
 that
 mention
 the


keyword
 “obama”
 or
 “mccain”
 can
 be
 determined
 (labeled
 on
 the
 graph
 as
 keyword).


Secondly,
 both
 Obama
 and
 McCain
 have
 Facebook
 profiles
 for
 which
 supporters,


dubbed
 “fans,”
 can
 add
 them
 as
 friends
 (labeled
 on
 the
 graph
 as
 fans).
 Both
 are


represented
 on
 the
 graph
 below
 and
 it’s
 quite
 clear
 that
 Obama
 dominates
 Facebook


with
both
keywords
and
number
of
fans.





 10

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Facebook
Representation
of
Candidates


2,500,000

Number
of
Instances
or
Fans


2,000,000


1,500,000

Obama

1,000,000

McCain


500,000


0

keyword
 fans

Type
of
Representation





 Of
 the
 Facebook


users
that
have
chosen
to
 Political
Association
of

Facebook
Users

publically
 associate


themselves
 with
 a


political
 thought,
 which
 28%
 liberal


41%

closely
 represents
 party
 conservative

moderate

alignment,
 41%
 are

31%

liberal,
 31%
 are


conservative,
 and
 28%


are
 moderate,
 according
 to
 data
 provided
 by
 Facebook
 on
 March
 6,
 2008.v
 If
 the
 data


hold
true,
McCain
should
have
a
higher
Facebook
representation,
based
on
the
political


associations
when
compared
to
Obama’s
numbers.




 11

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






32%
 more
 Facebook
 users
 indicated
 they
 were
 liberal
 than
 conservative,
 but


Obama
 had
 270%
 more
 friends
 than
 McCain.
 This
 indicates
 that
 either
 Obama
 had
 a


disproportionally
large
number
of
supporters
or
McCain
had
a
disproportionately
small


number
of
supporters
on
Facebook.



 In
 looking
 at
 the


demographics,
 Facebook
 is


dominated
 by
 12
 to
 34
 year
 olds.



While
12
to
17
had
an
index
(Note:


Index
 represents
 how
 a
 site's


audience
compares
to
the
online
Internet
population
as
a
whole.
An
index
of
100
indicates


a
 site's
 audience
 is
 at
 parity
 with
 the
 total
 Internet
 population.)
 of
 272,
 47%
 of


Facebook’s
visits
come
from
those
who
are
18
to
34.
This
is
important,
because
either


candidates’
representation
numbers
can
be
skewed
by
those
not
old
enough
to
vote.


According
to
a
Pew
Internet
survey,vi
Gen
Y
(age
18‐32)
constitutes
30%
of
the


Internet
population,
reaffirming
Facebook’s
high
index
for
users
age
18‐34.


Obama
dominated
McCain
on
Facebook.

Additionally,
a
large
percentage
(33%)
of


users
are
under
the
age
of
18,
meaning
they
were
not
eligible
to
vote
in
the
election.



 12

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






Myspace




 Myspace,
 like
 Facebook,
 allows
 users
 to
 connect
 with
 others
 through
 their


friends,
 as
 well
 as
 through


groups.
 
 Myspace,
 had
 over
 56


million
 visits
 from
 U.S.
 visitors



over
the
age
of
18
in
September,


meaning
 it
 has
 broader
 reach


domestically
 than
 Facebook.
 
 Age
 distributions
 closely
 mirror
 that
 of
 Facebook’s
 with


33
percent
of
traffic
coming
from
those
under
18,
and
44
percent
of
traffic
coming
from


those
between
the
ages
of
18
and
34.



 Myspace
 was
 well


MySpace
Friends
 utilized
 by
 Obama,
 allowing


him
 to
 attain
 more
 than


800,000
friends,
compared
to


McCain’s
paltry
5,187,
shown

Obama

McCain
 on
the
graph
to
the
left.


The
 impact,
 however,


is
questionable.
Myspace,
like


Facebook,
is
a
site
people
use


to
connect
with
each
other,
share
news
and
information
with
friends,
and
keep
track
of


contacts.
 Even
 though
 Obama
 had
 many
 more
 “friends”
 than
 McCain,
 the
 age
 and


geographic
 location
 of
 users,
 in
 addition
 to
 the
 site
 being
 designed
 for
 users
 to
 stay



 13

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






updated
 on
 people,
 not
 persuade
 them,
 makes
 the
 impact
 questionable.
 This
 is


questionable
 even
 though
 MySpace
 referred
 over
 52,000
 U.S.
 visitors
 to


barackobama.com,
and
over
37,000
U.S.
visitors
to
johnmccain.com
in
September
2008.


Even
though
Obama
had
many
more
friends
than
McCain,
Myspace
profiles
sent
nearly


the
same
amount
of
traffic
to
each
of
the
respective
sites.
On
possible
reason
for
this
is


that
Obama’s
friends
were
less
active
on
Myspace
than
McCains.


Even
more
so
than
Facebook,
Obama
held
a
clear
advantage
over
McCain
in
terms


of
 friends,
 however
 the
 impact
 number
 of
 users
 had
 on
 the
 campaign
 is


questionable.


Digg



Digg
is
a
news
aggregation
Web
site
that
allows
users
to
add,
rate,
and
comment


on
news
articles.
It’s
considered
to


be
a
low
impact
site,
because
of
the


low
 traffic
 it
 referred
 to
 the


candidates
 sites
 in
 September.
 In


terms
 of
 visitors’
 age,
 87%
 are
 of


voting
age,
with
28%
of
total
visitors
between
the
ages
of
18
and
34,
as
evident
on
the


graph.


To
 determine
 candidate
 share
 of
 voice,
 two
 searches
 were
 done
 using
 the


keywords
 “obama”
 and
 “mccain,”
 respectively,
 and
 the
 number
 of
 results
 pages


recorded.

“Obama”
returned
109
pages
of
results,
while
“McCain”
returned
88,
meaning


the
share
of
voice
was
in
Obama’s
favor,
but
not
as
much
as
on
of
the
other
sites.



 14

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






However,
 when
 looking
 at
 the
 content
 of
 these
 submitted
 news
 items,
 a
 large


percentage
 seem
 to
 be
 pro‐Obama
 and
 anti‐McCain
 (or
 Palin),
 meaning
 that
 even


though
 McCain’s
 share
 of
 voice
 was
 fairly
 close
 to
 Obama’s,
 most
 of
 that
 voice
 was


negative.


Obama
 edged
 out
 McCain
 in
 terms
 of
 number
 of
 pages
 of
 results,
 however
 the


perception
of
the
candidates
seemed
to
be
in
Obama’s
favor.
The
impact,
in
terms
of


referred
traffic
to
the
official
website
of
the
campaigns’,
is
minimal.


Twitter




Twitter,
 a
 micro‐blogging
 service
 that
 allows
 its
 users
 to
 send
 and
 read
 other


users'
 140
 character
 updates
 (known
 as
 tweets),
 had
 nearly
 3.25
 million
 accountsvii


worldwide
and
was
used
by
both
Obama
and
McCain.
However,
the
campaigns
used
it


for
different
purposes.
Obama
used
Twitter
to
update
on
location,
while
McCain
used
it


to
unveil
new
advertisements,
press
releases,
and
statements.


The
number
of
users
following
Obama’s
and
McCain’s
updates
and
the
number
of


times
the
candidates’
Twitter
account
had
been
updated
can
be
seen
below:


Twitter
Followers
 Twitter
Updates


Obama
 Obama

McCain
 McCain



 15

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






In
addition
to
the
campaigns
utilizing
Twitter,
other
Twitter
users
had
also
been


very
active
in
mentioning
Obama
and
McCain.
Using
Google
and
the
site:
search
feature,


there
 were
 1,260,000
 instances
 of
 “obama”
 and
 725,000
 instances
 of
 “mccain”
 on


Twitter.


Based
 on
 data
 of
 Twitter
 users
 who
 have
 tweeted
 about
 Obama
 and
 McCain,


provided
by
Twitrratr.com,
Obama
(sample
size:
24120
tweets)
had
more
positive
buzz


on
 Twitter
 than
 McCain
 (sample
 size:
 13966
 tweets).
 
 Twitrratr
 works,
 according
 to


their
 website,
 by
 using
 a
 pre‐defined
 list
 of
 positive
 keywords
 and
 a
 list
 of
 negative


keywords.
 Twitrratr
 then
 searches
 Twitter
 for
 the
 user‐defined
 keyword,
 and
 the


results
are
cross‐referenced
against
the
adjective
lists.
The
results
are
complied
and
the


relative
 number
 of
 positive,
 negative,
 and
 neutral
 twitter
 messages
 are
 displayed


accordingly.


Perception
on
Twitter


100%


95%


90%

positive

85%
 negative

80%
 neutral


75%


Obama

McCain





 16

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







 Very
arguably,
this
is
not
a
very
good
way
of
measuring
perception.
For
example,


a
tweet
from
user
@aldy
reads,
“Obama
should
be
his
own
press
secretary,
his
current


one
sucks
when
talking
to
the
press.”viii
Even
though
this
tweet
was
after
the
election,
a


similar
 one
 before
 could
 have
 given
 Obama
 (or
 McCain)
 negative
 perception,
 since


“sucks”
 is
 on
 the
 negatives
 list.
 However,
 this
 was
 mentioning
 that
 Obama’s
 press


secretary
sucks,
not
him.



 Twitter,
 however,
 had
 a


low
 reach
 as
 compared
 to
 the


other
 sites,
 with
 just
 over
 3


million
 visitors
 from
 the
 U.S.
 in


September
 2008,
 according
 to


Compete.com.
In
looking
at
the
different
age
groups
of
Twitter,
we
find
that
nearly
all


users
are
over
the
age
of
18.


While
 the
 site
 has
 millions
 of
 visits
 from
 18+
 year
 olds
 in
 the
 U.S.,
 its
 impact
 is


relatively
 low,
 especially
 when
 compared
 to
 the
 other
 social
 media
 Web
 sites,
 like


Facebook.



 17

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Collaboration

Meetup




Meetup
 was
 the
 most
 utilized
 collaboration
 Web
 site
 between
 Obama
 and
 McCain.



Meetup
makes
it
easy
for
anyone
to
organize
a
local
group
or
find
one
of
the
thousands


already
 meeting
 up
 face‐to‐face.
 In
 essence,
 Meetup
 is
 a
 basic
 way
 to
 engage
 and


organize
supporters
online
for
offline
activism.


Obama
 had
 over
 14,000
 active
 members,
 and
 McCain
 had
 just
 over
 1,750


members.
 What
 is
 really


Meetup
Members
 important
 about
 Meetup
 is


that
 while
 the
 site
 might
 not


directly
 influence
 the


Obama
 outcome
of
the
election,
what

McCain

it
organizes
might
very
well.


Its
 important
 to
 note


that
 while
 the
 site
 has
 fairly


low
 traffic
 and
 referred
 few
 visitors
 to
 the
 official
 campaign
 Web
 sites,
 it
 was


instrumental
 in
 organizing
 volunteerism.
 The
 site
 is
 also
 dominated
 by
 voting
 age


members,
especially
in
the
35‐49
age
group.


To
 put
 impact
 in
 perspective,
 an
 article
 titled
 “How
 Obama
 Won”
 by
 Rolling


Stone
writes:



 18

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






Howard
 Dean
 used
 the
 Internet
 for
 meetups
 —
 Obama
 used
 it
 to
 create
 a


movement.
 It
 was
 enormously
 important
 for
 getting
 the
 message
 out,
 raising


money
and
mobilizing
voters.
Those
are
the
three
things
—
message,
money
and


mobilization
—
that
the
Obama
team
saw
and
executed
on
brilliantly.ix


While
 Meetup
 had
 fairly
 low
 traffic
 and
 referrer
 volumes,
 it
 was
 instrumental
 in


bringing
online
activism
offline.



 19

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Media

Flickr





 Flickr
 is
 a
 site
 that
 allows
 users
 to
 upload
 digital
 images
 and
 tag
 them
 with


specific
 keywords.
 Other


users
 can
 then
 search
 these


Flickr
Search
Results

keywords.
 Obama
 had
 a


greater
 presence
 on
 Flickr


than
 McCain,
 shown
 to
 the
 Obama


McCain

right.


In
 the
 traffic
 graph,


Flickr
 has
 massive
 amounts


of
 traffic,
 however,
 it’s
 not
 as


interactive
or
social
as
a
site
like


Facebook,
 so
 it
 most
 likely


doesn’t
 have
 as
 strong
 of


influence.
 90%
 of
 Flickr’s
 U.S.


visitors
are
over
the
age
of
18.


Obama
 and
 McCain
 had
 many
 pictures
 in
 professional
 and
 semi‐formal


situations,
with
most
of
them
being
fairly
candid.



 20

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






Because
 these
 images
 contain
 a
 very
 short
 message,
 if
 any,
 the
 actual
 impact
 for


influence
 is
 fairly
 low,
 however
 it’s
 still
 important
 to
 note
 Flickr
 has
 90%
 of
 its


traffic
coming
from
visitors
of
voting
age.



YouTube




Youtube,
one
of
the
world’s
largest
Web
sites
in
terms
of
traffic,
was
an
integral


part
 of
 each
 campaign,
 allowing
 the
 candidates
 to
 publish
 campaign
 updates,


commercials,
 and
 more.
 Unlike
 the
 other
 social
 media
 sites,
 YouTube
 allowed
 the


campaigns
to
provide
an
experience


to
potential
voters
–
both
with
audio


and
 visual
 components.


Interestingly
 enough,
 Obama’s


campaign
 also
 included
 a
 donation


widget,
 that
 allowed
 visitors
 to


donate
 to
 his
 campaign.
 This
 was


one
 of
 the
 few
 instantaces
 that
 integrated
 social
 media
 directly
 with
 campaign


fundraising.
According
to
a
Washington
Post
article:


The
campaign
activated
the
Google
Checkout
option
on
all
of
its
YouTube
videos


on
Tuesday,
meaning
viewers
can
make
donations
from
$15
to
$1,000.
Checkout


allows
 online
 shoppers
 (or
 in
 this
 case,
 voters)
 to
 create
 a
 single
 login
 for
 all


online
purchases
(or
donations).x



 21

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







 Even
 though
 the
 12
 to
 17


age
 bracket
 has
 an
 index
 of
 164,


only
19%
of
its
U.S.
visitors
fall
into


this
category.
The
18+
category,
or


U.S.
 visitors
 of
 voting
 age,


accounted
for
78%
of
the
nearly
63
million
unique
visitors
in
September.
Additionally,
it


needs
to
be
pointed
out
that
42%
of
U.S.
visitors
to
Youtube
are
35
years
of
age
or
older,


meaning
they
are
of
prime
voting
and
donation
age.


When
 looking
 at


YouTube
Search
Results
 YouTube
 search
 results,
 or


videos
 on
 YouTube
 that
 are


tagged
 with
 “obama”
 and


Obama
 “mccain,”
 Obama
 held
 a
 clear


McCain

advantage
 in
 terms
 of


number
 of
 videos.
 Again,
 the


tonality
 of
 these
 videos
 may


be
different
for
each
candidate.
A
look
at
the
top
videos
reveals
very
positive
content
on


Obama
and
very
negative
content
on
McCain.
In
fact,
a
video
with
over
8
million
views


is
titled
“McCain's
YouTube
Problem
Just
Became
a
Nightmare,”xi
which
is
essentially
a


very
strong
anti‐McCain
video.




 22

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







 Obama
 clearly

YouTube
Subscribers

dominates
 YouTube


subscribers,
 or
 the
 number


of
 users
 who
 have


Obama
 subscribed
 to
 receive


McCain

updates
 when
 Obama
 and


McCain
 publish
 a
 new
 video


to
 the
 site.
 This
 means
 that,


there
were
many
more
people
interested
in
receiving
updates
on
Obama’s
videos
than


McCain’s
videos.




Obama
 also
 had
 more

YouTube
Channel
Views

channel
 views.
 While
 this


graph
 may
 seem
 simple,
 it
 is


very
 important,
 because


Obama
 videos
 can
 be
 much
 more

McCain

influential
 than
 say
 a
 status


update
 on
 Twitter.
 They
 can


include
 much
 more
 content,


include
less
restrictions
in
content,
and
allow
the
candidate
to
have
a
clear
presence.


Obama
held
another
distinct
advantage
over
McCain
on
one
of
the
most
visited,
and


arguably
 the
 most
 influential,
 sites
 of
 the
 election.
 Additionally,
 the
 tonality
 of



 23

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






videos
was
greatly
in
Obama’s
favor;
however,
22%
of
YouTube’s
traffic
comes
from


users
not
of
voting
age.



 24

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







Voting
Results




The
graph
below
represents
four
major
age
groups
as
a
percentage
of
the
total


voters
for
both
the
2004
and
2008
presidential
electionsxii.
It
is
important
to
note
that


social
media
did
not
appear
to
attract
any
new
voters
as
a
percentage
of
total
voters.


Presidential
Election
Results

Percentage,
as
a
Total
of
all
Votes,
for
their


40

35

30

25

respective
year


20

15

10
 2004

5
 2008

0

18‐29

30‐44

45‐64

65
or
over

Age
Group

Total
Popular
Vote

2004
=
121,069,054


 2008
=
129,391,711

According
 to
 official
 reports
 by
 the
 Federal
 Election
 Commission,
 the
 popular


vote
(Bush/Kerry)
for
2004
was
121,069,054xiii
and
the
popular
vote
(Obama/McCain)


for
2008
was
129,391,711xiv,
an
incredibly
small
marginal
increase.


If
 social
 media
 didn’t
 attract
 any
 new
 voters,
 did
 it
 influence
 voters
 who


originally
supported
one
candidate
to
actually
vote
for
another
candidate?




 25

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






The
 below
 graph
 shows
 not
 only
 the
 distribution
 of
 ages
 from
 voting,
 but
 also


the
percentage
of
total
votes
for
the
age
group.
The
50‐64
age
group
was
the
dominate


voting
 group,
 accounting
 for
 over
 27%
 of
 total
 votes,
 while
 18‐24
 year
 old
 voters


accounted
for

just
over
10%.



Voting
Results
by
Age
Group
and
Candidate

Percentage,
as
a
Total
of
all
Votes


14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

Obama

4%

McCain

2%

0%

18‐24
 25‐29
 30‐39
 40‐49
 50‐64
 65
or

over

Age
Group



Based
 solely
 on
 this
 data,
 it
 would
 appear
 that
 Obama
 made
 more
 strides
 in


attracting
 the
 younger
 voters
 than
 McCain,
 and
 social
 media
 could
 be
 named
 as
 an


influencer.
 However,
 let’s
 look
 at
 voting
 patterns.
 Could
 it
 be
 that
 Obama
 was
 a
 more


attractive
 candidate
 to
 younger
 voters,
 just
 as
 John
 Kerry
 may
 have
 been,
 and
 that
 it


wasn’t
driven
by
social
media?


John
 Kerry,
 in
 2004,
 attracted
 54%
 of
 the
 18‐29
 year
 old
 voters,
 while
 Obama


attracted
66%.
Additionally,
in
the
30‐44
age
category,
Kerry
grabbed
just
44%,
while


Obama
received
52%
of
the
votes.


Using
 some
 extrapolation
 and
 assumptions,
 the
 graph
 below
 represents
 the


average
 age
 (from
 Quantcast.com)
 of
 the
 social
 media
 sites
 mentioned
 in
 this
 paper



 26

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






(excluding
 Technorati)
 and
 that
 age
 group’s
 percentage
 of
 total
 votes
 in
 the
 2008


presidential
election
(from
CNN.com).



Percent
of
Social
Media
Use
and
Votes
in

the
2008
Presidential
Election
by
Age

Group

45%

40%

35%

30%

Percent


25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Under
18
 18‐34
 35‐49
 50+

%
social
media
site
usage
 18%
 42%
 24%
 15%

%
votes
 0%
 28%
 31%
 31%

Age
Groups

Sources

Quantcast.com

%
social
media
site
usage
 %
votes

and
CNN.com
 


Not
surprisingly,
18%
of
social
media
usage
is
by
those
not
even
old
enough
to


vote.
Additionally,
the
18
to
34
age
group
accounted
for
42%
of
social
media
site
usage,


but
 only
 28%
 of
 votes.
 In
 essence,
 the
 younger
 visitors
 (<35
 years
 old)
 accounted
 for


most
of
the
social
media
site
usage,
while
the
older
voters
(>=
35
years
old)
accounted


for
most
of
the
votes.



 27

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain






Conclusion


In
conclusion,
based
on
research
conducted,
social
media
was
a
great
connector


and
had
some
impact
on
voters,
especially
in
the
18‐29
age
groups.
However,
I
maintain


that
 it
 was
 more
 of
 a
 connector
 than
 a
 direct
 influencer
 in
 getting
 candidate
 votes.


Obama
 having,
 in
 some
 instances,
 more
 than
 10
 times
 the
 exposure
 on
 some
 social


media
 sites
 and
 basically
 being
 at
 parity
 with
 McCain
 in
 the
 30‐64
 age
 groups
 in


percentage
of
votes,
indicates
social
media
wasn’t
as
impactful
in
older
age
groups.


Indirectly,
 social
 media
 was
 an
 instrumental
 enabler.
 It
 connected
 hundreds
 of


thousands
of
volunteers,
referred
millions
of
visitors
to
the
candidates
Web
sites,
and
it


provided
information
at
incredible
speed.


Social
media
marketing,
especially
in
politics
is
here
to
stay.
It’s
nearly
free
and,


as
political
advertising
becomes
more
fragmented,
candidates
will
be
looking
to
reach


users
 wherever
 they
 are
 and
 social
 media
 sites
 are
 no
 exception.
 In
 looking
 at
 the


future,
candidates
will
start
to
use
social
media
as
an
influencer
and
a
fundraiser,
rather


than
a
way
to
just
push
out
standard
content
(like
press
releases)
and
update
users
on


their
location.



 28

 Rigotti,
Dave
|
The
Social
Media
Use
of
Obama
and
McCain







References





























































i
USC
Annenberg
School
Center
for
the
Digital
Future,
“2008
Digital
Future
Report,”


January
17,
2008
as
cited
by
“Web
Insight”
press
release,
March
17,
2008

ii
Pew
Research
Center
for
the
People
and
the
Press
of
pew
&
American
Life
Project,


“Internet’s
Broader
Role
in
Campaign
2008,”
January
11,
2008.

iii
Luo,
Michael.
"Democrats
Lead
in
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Money
Online
."
The
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York
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13
JUL


2007
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/us/politics/13internet.html?_r=1>.


iv
Kaye,
Kate.
"Obama
Nears
$5.5
Million
in
Online
Ad
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ClickZ
29
SEP
2008


<http://blog.clickz.com/080929‐123950.html>.


v
Webster,
Buzz.
"Facebook's
Political
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PoliticsOnline
06
MAR
2008


<http://www.politicsonline.com/blog/archives/2008/03/facebook_search.php>.


vi
"Generations
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in
2009."
Pew
Internet
28
JAN
2009


<http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/275/report_display.asp>.


vii
<http://twitdir.com>.
22
OCT
2008


viii
Masna,
Aldy.
05
FEB
2009
<http://twitter.com/aldy/statuses/1179038739>.


ix
Wenner,
Jann.
"How
Obama
Won."
Rolling
Stone
27
NOV
2008


<http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/24200780/how_obama_won/>.

x
O'Keefe,
Ed.
"YouTube
Viewers
Can
Now
Donate
Directly
to
Obama."
Washington
Post


28
MAY
2008
<http://blog.washingtonpost.com/channel‐
08/2008/05/obama_montana.html>.


xi
bravenewfilms,
"McCain's
YouTube
Problem
Just
Became
a
Nightmare."
18
MAY
2008


<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c>.

xii<http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.htm

l>
and
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26843704>.


xiii
"2004
ELECTION
RESULTS."
<http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2004/tables.pdf>.


xiv
"2008
OFFICIAL
PRESIDENTIAL
GENERAL
ELECTION
RESULTS."
22
JAN
2009


<http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2008/2008presgeresults.pdf>.





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