Final Election Day Hours: What Obama and Romney Said On Social Media

Barack Obama (@BarackObama) and Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) have been actively participating in social media networks since the US presidential campaigns started. Before the polls officially closed on November 6, 2012, both candidates continued to post on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook to encourage undecided citizens to vote for them. Twitter and Facebook are known as two of the biggest social media websites in the world with millions of users logging in each day. Reddit is another social media site where users can compare and rate posted information. Users can also indicate if they like the information or not. Using these three platforms mainly, the Democratic and Republican candidates made their final pleas with the hope of garnering enough votes to secure their position. Barack Obama said on Reddit, ?I?m checking in because polls will start closing in this election in just a few hours, and I need you to vote.? Mitt Romney, who has 1.7 million followers on Twitter, tweeted: ?With your help, we will turn our country around and get America back on the path to prosperity. Please vote today.? Their respective supporters online were also very active in spreading the post and information. Many replied to Obama?s post, saying that they already voted for him, while Romney?s post was retweeted over 2,300 times. Several hashtags and applications have come up since the presidential campaigns began, with the aim of getting more people to vote. Both candidates had admittedly invested heavily in social media strategies, like promoted tweets, to provide quick news and information to voters months before November 6. When finally it was clear that Obama had been re-elected for the presidency, Twitter users were predictably some of the first to know. Barack Obama will be inaugurated in January 2013.