Obama betting on Facebook for 2012 victory

Businesses, brands, and Obama: nobody can escape the draw of social media's power

It’s pretty much undisputed that President Barack Obama owes much of his 2008 victory to the power of the Internet. Obama’s campaign was the first in presidential history to really tap into social media sites like Facebook and MySpace, in particular, giving a (go figure, this is the Internet) more personable face to the cross country-touring senator.

Even after the election was decided, the White House continued to use Web 2.0 intelligently to keep citizens informed of the goings-on in Washington D.C.

Now, in advance for what is sure to be yet another close race for the presidency in 2012, Obama is already pushing for an even stronger social media campaign to reach his current and potential supporters.

The White House announced via its Facebook page Tuesday that Obama will be hosting a special “Facebook Live” townhall on Wednesday, April 20 at 4:45 PM EST to virtually meet with people across the country. Anyone who wants to ask the President questions need only submit them on either the Facebook page for the event or to a special White House Web page set up specifically for the event.

Reads the Facebook page:

President Obama will connect with Americans across the country to discuss the tough choices we must all make in order to put our economy on a more responsible fiscal path, while still investing in areas like innovation that will help our economy grow and make America more competitive.

Today’s announcement follows two big social media moves from the Obama reelection campaign just yesterday. First was the launch of a grassroots Facebook campaign harnessing the voice of supporters to show who’s in support of Obama. Second was a two-minute YouTube video, working perfectly in tandem with the Facebook campaign, highlighting some of Obama’s supporters and encouraging viewers to get the word out.

If you’re like James Franco and have no faith in the power of social media, perhaps you didn’t hear Facebook gloating in November about how there proved to be a pretty direct correlation between victories in the House and Senate elections and how many fans each candidate had on their Facebook page. The more fans you have, the better chance you have winning. Doesn’t seem like rocket science or anything.

After all, it’s not like only the kids are using social media anymore. Everyone is. Don't think that the opposing party will sit on the sidelines this time, though. Social media is everyone’s strategy this time around.