2013年高中英语教学辅助素材：Internet-Social-Media-Prominent-in-US-Presidential-Race（文本）.docVIP

WASHINGTON ?With every presidential election, the role and impact of the Internet grows. In 2012, so-called 憇ocial media,?such as Facebook, Twitter and the like, have become a prominent means of political communication. Political campaigns used to rely on speeches, rallies, and newspapers to reach and motivate voters. Then radio and TV made it possible to reach everyone quickly and simultaneously. Today, campaigns can spread their messages instantly - and, interactively - through the Internet抯 so-called 憇ocial media.? The Internet抯 role in political campaigning has grown hugely over the past 20 years. It抯 used to spread the candidates?messages, to raise money, and to motivate voters to get actively involved. Transformative communication When Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama ran in 2008, his team used the Internet to a degree never seen before - and with significant effect, said political communications strategist Peter Fenn. 揊irst of all, if you look at the numbers on this, it抯 absolutely incredible. He had 4 million donors to his campaign, which is about one in 17 people who voted for him gave him money, said Fenn. That had never happened in American politics. Second thing is [that] you had about 16 million email addresses that he had of folks. In the 2012 presidential election, both major candidates - the incumbent president, Obama, and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, are using the Internet - including social media like Facebook and Twitter - massively, and strategically. And, each form has a role to play in message delivery, said the Romney campaign抯 Digital Media Director, Zac Moffat. The way that I would think about it is Twitter is kind of the ultimate real-time engagement tool. Twitter is the conversations occurring in real time, said Moffat. I would think of Facebook as happening 憈hat night?- it抯 almost like the event has occurred, and people are reflecting upon it. And then, Google kicks in the next day, and they are