Obama Launches social media campaign

US President Barack Obama is continuing to build on the social media campaign he used in his 2008 presidential campaign, with a 17 minute online video being released on his own YouTube page today.

The Tom Hanks-narrated documentary, called “The Road We’ve Traveled will appear on a new YouTube platform that enables the Obama campaign to turn the passive experience of watching a video into an organising and fund-raising tool. The technology will allow viewers to post campaign content to their Facebook pages, volunteer and donate to the campaign - all while still on Mr. Obama’s dedicated YouTube page.

Growing importance of social media and web video to political campaigns
The new YouTube platform that the Obama campaign will use to release the documentary gives anyone visiting the president’s YouTube page a number of options, including to share the content or pledge their support - the kind of one-click approach that campaigns now see as an integral part of their digital strategies.

The Obama campaign’s web-savvy efforts highlight the increasing importance that political campaigns now attach to web video - and the central role the medium will play in the coming election.  Online video is no longer merely a medium for viral parodies and hastily produced public relations damage control, instead it is gaining credence as a valid tool for proactive electioneering.

“The importance of video is so new for campaigns, even relative to 2008,” says the Obama campaign’s digital director Teddy Goff.

 “Now it’s in some ways the primary way our digital operation communicates with supporters. And increasingly it will be the primary way we communicate with undecided voters.”

It offers them a way to spread their messages into online communities – where friends and family members discuss and debate.  This can help lift the perception of the videos from mere political propaganda to dialogue and constructive discussion.  It is far more interactive than the traditional campaign methods of television advertisements.

“This year it’s all about getting your message into those trusted networks because everyone is suspicious about politicians,” said Darrell West, of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. “It’s hard to be persuasive through a direct advertisement. But if you can get people to share videos, it adds a degree of credibility because a friend is endorsing it. People will take it more seriously.”

Some strategists said what has changed in this election is the ability to turn web video into something people act on. “One of the biggest challenges with YouTube is giving people a clear action to take after viewing,” said Stephen Muller, the Obama campaign’s video director. “The goal is to bring our engagement tools to our supporters.”

President Obama’s Facebook page has over 25 million “likes”.