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| Candidates Use Social Media to Spread Their Message |
Illinois candidates that aren't as well known are turning more to social media than candidates with more name recognition.
University of Illinois Communication professor Michael Cheney says he studied the use of Facebook, Twitter and You Tube by candidates seeking statewide office positions in the February primary election.
Cheney, who's also a senior fellow at the U of I's Institute of Government and Public Affairs, says different candidates have different tastes in social media. Cheney describes the typical Twitter user.
"People who are avid cell phone users, often times people who don't sit around at the computer all day, people who are more likely to respond with their cell phone as they're going place to place or going out to dinner, or they're just sitting at home -- those people are more likely to use the shorter formats to communicate," Cheney said. "Facebook really requires you to sit down and interact with it, and the same thing for YouTube -- you need to sit down and watch."
Cheney says the leading users of social media are Adam Andrzejewski, a Republican candidate for governor, and Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Thomas Castillo.
Cheney says social media are often used by second-tier candidates at this stage of the election because it doesn't cost much and they don't have the money to spend on more traditional things like television ads. That's not to say the well known candidates aren't using social media. Cheney says Governor Pat Quinn leads in Facebook activity and You Tube views.
Quinn so far is behind in Twitter use because, Cheney says, the governor's campaign staff didn't think Twitter would be worthwhile. |
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| 01 13 10 by Newsroom |
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