The New Political Age: Winning an Election through Social Media

Young voters today are the account for the least representation in recent elections. Although this group of 18- 24 year olds is underrepresented in electoral statistics, this group accounts for the greatest population in social networks like Facebook. Today’s political candidates have begun to explore the benefits of addressing this population through advertisements on social network pages, or by even creating profiles on popular online networks like MySpace and Twitter. The increased desire to target the 18- 24 year old voting population has led to an increase in dependence on social networking in political elections. What can political candidates do to reach the young voting population, and how has social media affected the most recent political elections such as the 2008 presidential election and the 2010 midterm election. Is there an equation to predict success in an election? This research can lead to a better understanding of how to reach the 18- 24 year old voting population through social media and what steps political candidates must implement to garner votes and gain attention in the political sphere. Future research is of great importance as well. It will be important to apply this to understanding how social media can affect elections worldwide in other democracies and how the ability to access social networks can influence the voting public.