Political communication is a huge field that encompasses many technologies and strategies. Even one single medium can be used in a variety of ways.For example, Facebook, is a social networking site allowing people to become “fans” of politicians. Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, and many other politicians have these “fan pages.”
However, each of their pages vary because every fan page is run in a different way. John McCain updates his Facebook through his twitter account.
He often comments on politics, but also digresses when he mentions football or other Arizona sporting teams. During the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, McCain used his twitter, and subsequently his Facebook to highlight the allocations he considered “earmarks.”
In the weeks surrounding discussion on the stimulus bill, McCain posted a “top ten list” of the projects in the bill. He counted down, and then introduced “the #1 project of the day... $165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont.”
Sarah Palin utilizes the “Notes” feature on Facebook to reach her fans making her fan page somewhat like a blog. She promotes her book and gave her opinions on political topics such as oil drilling and veteran’s issues.
The president’s Facebook is quite different than the Palin and McCain pages. His “page is run by Organizing for America, the grassroots organization for President Obama's agenda for change” and not the president himself.
However, some posts on Obama’s site are worded as if they are coming from him directly. Last month there was a post that read, “From my family to yours — Happy Thanksgiving.”
With so many different communication approaches it is difficult to see what messages are directly from the politician, and what support groups produce.
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