The State of Social Media

Coming off the 2012 State of the Union, we may have talked about our views with our friends, co-workers or someone 3,000 miles away we do not know.

Until now, political commentary was generally the domain of our seasoned news anchors, with sound bites culled from political figures for their 10 second input. Social media have changed the landscape dramatically in that we no longer rely on traditional news mediums for narration or reactions during real-time events such as the SOTU. 

The truth is, what the President said is just part of the story. All of the moments, small or large, are captured and analyzed via social media in a way no narrator could not keep up with or process after the fact. Political commentary is no longer a sideline sport for Americans at home; we are invited to take part in conversation via social media. Immediately after the speech, the White House live-streamed a panel discussion featuring senior administration officials and a live audience taking questions from Twitter, Facebook and Google+. 

We no longer have to wait for the post-speech analysis in this 24/7 news cycle - we can access it instantly and take part, while removing the "middle man" to feed us a recap and help frame our opinions.

What do you see as the advantages of "real time" analysis? What do you see as the disadvantages? Social media now predict the winners of debates and pollings before the official numbers are in - is this a good or bad thing?

In my view social media commentary about an event like the SOTU is a simple extension of what used to occur in living rooms, primarily among families. The difference now is that you might be scanning comments or exchanging posts with someone in another city or country.

As for the SOTU, social platforms like Twitter are a worthy - though imprecise - gauge of constituent and influencer reaction. A quick look at the #sotu showed an immediate, visceral response to the President's speech. Everything from Mr. Obama's best applause lines, to Mrs. Clinton's hairband, elicited a reaction in real time.

I see the impact for the President and other public figures as largely positive. One of the risks with social media overall is their vulnerability to rumor and hoax. But when the reaction is around a real event that's happening in front of our eyes, that risk is eliminated. They're a source of instant feedback, real and unfiltered, and I think that's valuable for communications professionals. 
Dorothy Crenshaw
CEO/Chief Creative Director
Crenshaw Communications
New York Women in Communications Foundation Board Member

I read an article on MediaBistro, quoted below, that not only caused me to laugh but also made me take a hard look at social media and their impact on the election. In 2008, scholars concluded there was some impact on the election but social media weren't being used to their full capacity. Fast forward to 2012 and it's safe to say that the exploitation of social media is quite evident. No TV to watch the State of the Union? That's fine. Log in on Facebook or YouTube or stream on your iPhone, iPad, Air, Droid, etc. While you're watching, send in questions and comments through Google+ to people you may or may not know. Follow #sotu on Twitter and join #whtweetup, hosted by Mashable. 

Social media connect us to the politicians, commentators and news that shape the world. They enable us to be informed and, at their best, make us commit to taking action and being part of the moments that will guide our futures.  

"Who would win the 2012 presidential elections if the vote was decided right now by the popularity of the individual candidates on Twitter and Facebook?

Well, perhaps not all that surprisingly, it would be current President Barack Obama, who has over five times as many Twitter followers as all the Republican candidates combined. But what about the opposition?

This isn't an entirely sound metric, of course. One, because it's nonsense - elections don't work this way (thankfully, otherwise Justin Bieber would be King of the World). And two, Obama is the President and has been active (and prolific) on social media since 2007, so he has something of a head start."
- Shea Bennet, MediaBistro 

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson
Co-Founder/Managing Director
Digital Brand Architects
New York Women in Communications Foundation Board Member

Real-time analysis of news and politics on social media channels has the advantage of empowering people, who might not otherwise find an audience for their remarks, to speak up. During the State of the Union address, I saw people across the spectrum weighing in on Twitter. As Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg said in conversation with Christine Lagarde Managing Director of the IMF at Davos, "social media gives individuals voice: the historically powerless become powerful" (http://www.thejanedough.com/sandberg-lagarde-davos).

We also get the chance to hear from people who aren't tuned into the event on the first screen but feel strongly about not watching or not listening to a certain line of rhetoric. People change the channel in disgust or shame, and they let their Twitter followers and Facebook friends know about it!

People often use the instantaneous, short-form style of social media messaging to comment on the details of political and new events. They generally rally behind a clever turn of phrase or raise alarm at word choice, e.g. Warren Buffett's "secretary."

This certainly has the advantage of building momentum and encouraging a lively, borderless conversation. But the stark disadvantage is that we might miss out on comprehensive analysis. Once a hashtag has expired or a comment stream has run its course, we could easily get the impression that the conversation is closed—we already talked about that. It too swiftly becomes old news. Long form conventional media analysis remains a much needed complement to the proliferation of voices on social media. And by participating in social media as well as traditional media, we are exposed to a more nuanced, diverse, and on-going conversation about our world.
Deanna Utroske
Founding Editor, Films for the Feminist Classroom
New York Women in Communications IMC Committee and Social Media Community Team Member