I started election day, as I do every day; tuning in to ABC's Good Morning, America. Host (anchor?) George Stefanopoulos introduced the fabulous new set which is the backdrop for tonight's coverage of the Presidential election.
There was a discussion of the increasing role of social media in the 2012 election. Elizabeth Vargas introduced the segment by saying, "Whether it's tweeting, Facebooking or...emailing, social media has shaped this election as never before." Staffer Josh Elliot shared that one of the top Google searches of the day was regarding the "Redskins' Rule." Apparently, when the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the Presidential election, the incumbent usually wins. Unfortunately for Mr. Obama, the Skins lost. However, later in the day, the Huffington Post noted that when the Dow Jones closes higher on Election Day than it was on that year's Labor Day, The incumbent usually wins. Score one for Barry.
Getting back to the burgeoning role of social media in elections...A few weeks ago on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," one of the guests wondered whether we would see real-time tweets as a crawl during future debates. Currently, tweets are used this way during television "competition" shows, including "The Voice" and "Dancing with the Stars." And what are Presidential debates, if not competition? But, who would decide which tweets to feature, which to exclude? It seems like a logistical nightmare, but we'll see what happens four years from now.
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