If the 2012 elections were to be held today, Ron Paul is set to be the victor in Iowa, thanks to his web popularity. But the polls say otherwise: his competitor is actually winning in the midwest state.  The internet age has ushered in a political information and communication revolution. Gone are the days where pamphlets and posters are the major campaign paraphernalia.  At present, social media popularity becomes a defining dynamic in politics. The web proves a wide avenue for candidates to reach out to the masses, disseminate campaign information, learn from mock voting behavior, fundraising and more. Google is one of the many organizations that initiated online monitoring of the polls.

Following a banner year for 2011, Google is set to makes its mighty presence felt as they launch google.com/elections—a hub where citizens can study, watch, get to know and participate in the digital campaigns and voting on election day itself, slated for the 6^th of November this year.  The pilot program for this website begins with the Iowa caucuses, which take place today. According to the official Google blog:

“The site enables voters, journalists and campaigns to quickly sort through election info by popularity, race or issues. People can also check out the Trends Dashboard to take the web’s real-time political pulse by comparing candidates’ YouTube video views, search traffic and Google News mentions. Campaign staffers, advocates and everyday citizens can utilize our tools and features to reach, engage and inspire voters.”

Social hubs for politicos 

Late in the third quarter of 2011, Twitter launched political advertising. There were also big events when President Obama answers questions from citizens via this micro blogging site. This year, the team-up of SupaStar and Socialbaker will engage in Facebook analytics to extract the social side of the Presidential Election. The political push within the world’s largest social networking site is going to be a very fascinating rollercoaster ride for candidates and citizens alike.

CEO of Co-Founder of SupaStar Interactive, Paul Chang, expresses his excitement over the partnership and how they will deliver for the 2012 elections, saying,

“Socialbakers is demonstrating the amazing potential of Facebook analytics to assess the viability of presidential candidates. We’re excited to present this information to the public in a visually engaging way with our customizable SupaStars.”

Predictive social media is a very interesting segment of elections, and relies heavily on recent big data analytics trends that weren’t available during the 2008 election. Although “likes” and “shares” are not tantamount to official votes, these social media markers are indicative of a nation’s ethos, and only drives media coverage for a given candidate.   Social media has suddenly become inseparable with communication and marketing. The span of influence for sites like Facebook and Twitter has transcended to politics and other factions of the state and government. These social hubs are avenues which election hopefuls are expected to take full advantage this year and in years to come.