Abstract

Recent U.S. presidential campaigns have been symbolic for social media and politics on a global scale. In particular, the 2008 Obama campaign marked a shift from the old paradigm of information dissemination and persuasion via the mass media to a new paradigm of controlled interactivity via digital media (Stromer-Galley 2014: 14). The social media element of the 2008 Obama campaign became a global phenomenon, and inspired politicians and staffers around the world to engage with voters through user-generated content and interactive features.