The Digital Debate: Social Media in the 2016 Election Race

On Wednesday, Fox News announced they would have journalists fully dedicated to broadcasting this week's GOP debate via Instagram, marking the first time a news organization has assigned resources to cover an event exclusively via the social media site.  This represents not only a milestone for Instagram, but also a sign of the increasing impact social media has on US politics.

The first real winds of change came with Barack Obama's campaign strategy during the 2008 Presidential Election, dubbed "The Facebook Election" by media outlets.  On top of a keenly data-driven campaign, Obama's strategists composed an aggressive - and successful - youth-focused appeal via electronic media.  Throughout his two terms, he has continued the trend, frequently appearing on podcasts, answering questions on Reddit, and holding "Twitter Townhalls" through his massively popular @BarackObama and @POTUS handles.

Hello, Twitter! It's Barack. Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.

— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015

The 2016 Presidential Election has upped the ante, with social media content featured more prominently than ever before.  It has been estimated that approximately $1 billion, or over nine percent of candidates' media budgets, will be allocated to digital and social media.  Bombastic candidate Donald Trump, already well known for his Twitter eruptions before entering the Presidential mix, has stoked the digital flames a number of times before the Primaries have even ended.  Opponents have also shot back via social media.

Taking the next step from Twitter and Facebook posts, candidates in the 2016 race have focused more efforts on producing video content spread via social media.  Snapchat has found its time in the spotlight as nearly ever candidate sports a regularly updated channel.

Yet in some ways, social media may be hurting campaigns.  Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders launched an aggressive online campaign targeted at millennials, echoing the Obama Facebook campaigns of 2008 and 2012.  However, likes and follows have not converted to votes despite aggressive "Facebanking," as shown by Sanders' poor performance on Super Tuesday.  It seems millennials are more than happy to click a button and send over some PayPal cash, but getting to the ballot box takes a little too much effort.  #FeelTheBern may suffer the same fate as #Kony2012.