POLITICS - The State of the Union as Social Media

"How the White House made this year’s SOTU a social media affair" PBS NewsHour 1/22/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The number of television viewers of the State of the Union address has shrinking, but online, there’s a growing interest.  How is the Obama administration tapping into social media to keep the American public engaged?  Judy Woodruff speaks with the Kori Schulman, director of online engagement at the White House, about reaching new audiences and the political benefits of speaking with YouTube stars.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  We have all heard the adage all politics is local.  But, more and more, it’s becoming digital, case in point, this week’s efforts by the White House to promote the president’s State of the Union agenda on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

As part of that push, Mr. Obama was interviewed today by YouTube stars, people with large followings on the video-sharing site.

And he made had some news in this exchange with GloZell Green:

GLOZELL GREEN, YouTube Host:  Do you think that same-sex marriage will be legalized in all of the United States during the time that you’re in office?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  The Supreme Court now is going to be taking on a case.  My hope is, is that they go ahead and recognize what I think the majority of people in America now recognize, which is two people who love each other and are treating each other with respect and aren’t bothering anybody else, why would the law treat them differently?

I’m hopeful the Supreme Court comes to the right decision.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  GloZell Green has about three million YouTube subscribers.

One of the issues facing anybody trying to get a message out is how to do so effectively in this rapidly changing media landscape.  The president’s State of the Union address was the least watched in 15 years; 32 million people tuned in to broadcast and cable outlets.  That’s down from a high of 67 million in 1993.

But, online, it was a different story.  Far fewer people watched than on television, but the audience is growing.  In all, 1.2 million people watched the speech on the White House’s Web site; 2.6 million tweeted about it, and another 5.7 million liked, shared, or posted about it on Facebook.