ANC hits the campaign trail on Facebook

Looks like the country’s biggest party is eyeing the social media scene as a campaign ground. The ANC has a Facebook profile called “Anc Campaign” that is rapidly attracting friends. From a cursory glance it appears to be legit, but there have been so many spoof Facebook profiles, I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t. If I’m not mistaken this is the first major move by the ANC into this sphere. I guess we’ll see more of this, from other parties too, now that elections are around the corner. Interesting.

Politicians and social media do go together. US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama used social media heavily to campaign. In fact, many are asking if Obama’s internet presence had anything to do with his campaign success.

Obama was the most prominent candidate on You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, Linked.in and a raft of other social media apps. In fact The Bivings Report noted that Obama was by far the most popular candidate online. It also went on to say that Obama was the most followed politician on Twitter. Clickz also writes that Obama spent about $3-million on online advertising, mostly via Google Adsense.

Which came first though? Was Obama popular in the real world, which then caused a swell of popularity online? Or was it the net that helped drive his popularity up and ultimately beat off Clinton …and who knows maybe go all the way to the White House?

Other political parties in other countries will no doubt try and emulate Obama’s online success.