Democrats Invest In Biden's #Malarkey Momentum

The Democratic party's decision to turn #malarkey into a promoted hashtag has netizens all abuzz about the recently held #vpdebate. The October 11, 2012 debate between vice presidential candidates Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) and Paul Ryan (@PaulRyanVP) was aptly described by the media as a major slugfest. Biden released some pointed comments, sometimes misconstrued as "mean and ruthless", but in the end showed a lot of heart and emerged clearly as the winner. Observers say Biden's performance was exactly what the Democratic Party was hoping for after the seemingly timid character of President Obama in the last presidential debate. Good thing, Twitter users captured the #malarkey fever and used it in various tweets. Biden has long been known to have an interesting way of speaking. Just a few weeks ago, he was criticized for using the word 'literally' too many times in a speech, leading the hashtag #literally to trend in the micro-blogging site. Now, the vice-president has a new term that has developed newfound Twitter fame ? #malarkey. The word means nonsense or worthless. Malarkey is not one of the terms people would normally use in the 21st century, but knowing how Biden forms his sentences, the possibility wouldn?t be too farfetched. The Obama campaign, understanding the importance of social media in the success of their objectives, immediately bought the hashtag #malarkey, especially as its VP candidate had noticeably used malarkey several times throughout the debate. Twitter has become an important part of the presidential campaigns and upcoming November US national election. The Republican party has also invested much in social media advertising. By average, promoted hashtags cost around $120,000. Advertising and marketing firms, however, find the investment very helpful, especially as Twitter allows for one of the widest possible coverages in the shortest time. A hashtag also enables netizens to comment and engage directly on specific issues, thereby extending its reach even farther.