Ben Lauing
Ben joins the Ad Council as a summer intern in Campaign Management. He assists on many campaigns but focuses on High School Dropout Prevention, Teen Dating Violence Prevention, and GLSEN’s Think Before You Speak. A rising senior at Stanford University, Ben studies Human Biology with a concentration in health policy and marketing, directs marketing for the Stanford Journal of Public Health, and walks backwards on a regular basis as a campus tour guide.
Posts by Ben
The Power of Social Media in Politics Presents Itself (Again)
We know from Anthony Weiner that misuse of social media can impact politics. But can proper use of social media impact politics as well?
On June 24th, the New York State Senate voted on the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The bill passed, thanks to Republican Senators Mark Grisanti and Steve Saland, who at the last minute broke away from their party to support it.
In the days following the vote, Senator Grisanti received about 5,000 additional “likes” on Facebook. But whereas Grisanti now has over 8,000 “likes,” Saland has barely over 2,000. Saland’s Facebook page does not allow users to write on his wall, yet some people used his most recent (yet unrelated) note to comment on same-sex marriage both before and after the vote. Now, I can’t guarantee that the supportive comments before the vote pushed these politicians over the edge. But at the very least, the mass of comments that flooded in after the vote was undoubtedly recognized as proof of support.
Filed under: Social Media
Tags: Social Media
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