Obama’s 2012 Facebook Campaign: Political Communication in the Age of the Like Button

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This article examines the role of social media in contemporary political communication, focusing on Barack Obama's Facebook campaign in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. Although there is a growing body of literature on online forms of participation, little research exists on the role of social buttons on Facebook (like, comment, and share) as tools of political voice. We use these native interactive features as indicators of how citizens engage with particular political messages. A content analysis of posts published on Obama's official Facebook page over the two months leading up to Election Day was conducted, along with a detailed measurement of all user interactions for each post. Our analysis indicates that the Obama campaign used Facebook as a tool of top-down promotion, focusing on Obama's personality and as a means of strategically guiding followers to act, rather than as a means of bottom-up empowerment or hybridized coproduction. However, we also found that followers engaged selectively with campaign messages and often interacted more with policy-oriented posts than with promotional ones.

Go viral on the Facebook! Interactions between candidates and followers on Facebook during the Hungarian general election campaign of 2014

“…In the case of Obama, content linked to logos (use of logic or reason) received more comments. Gerodimos and Justinussen (2015) also dealt with the U.S. 2012 presidential campaign, but only in relation to Obama's page. Beyond looking at the rhetorical devices, they also took into account the structural features (videos, pictures, etc.)…”

What’s in a post? How sentiment and issue salience affect users’ emotional reactions on Facebook

“…Anytime and anywhere, Facebook users can express their opinions, join discussions, or simply show their support for specific political parties, politicians, and their ideas and make that support visible to their family, friends, and acquaintances. At the same time, political actors may interact with citizens, join discussions, or use Facebook as a tool for one-way communication to mobilize potential voters, among others by appealing to certain emotions (e.g., Gerodimos & Justinussen, 2015).…”

Digital Politics: Mobilization, Engagement, and Participation

“…Research shows a politics of disconnection with and realignment away from electoral politics toward a more issue-based civic engagement. While online tools can enhance learning, build communities or groups of online advocates, and facilitate a range of forms of engagement and participation, it is seldom the case-the notable exception being Barack Obama in 2008 (Gerodimos & Justinussen, 2015;Stromer-Galley, 2014)-that these tools are utilized to engage with political parties or electoral candidates. In fact, there appears a reciprocal relationship as the full potential of technologies are seldom exploited by parties or individuals who seek votes or gain election to the chambers or loci of power.…”