Social media and text messages now play a huge role in political campaigns, compared to just a decade or so ago.
Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said they’ve become an important component in every candidate’s campaign.
“It’s a way to reach voters that wasn’t available 10, 15 years ago,” Squire told Missourinet. “It allows the candidates to target particular groups, to speak directly to them, and in many ways, to bypass the traditional media.”
Squire suggested that social media platforms and text messages are more effective at reaching younger voters than older ones, though they can be used to influence opinions among all age groups.
“There are lots of different ways that people communicate now, and so it’s not just young people, although certainly they are more comfortable and more familiar with it and probably use it more exclusively than older people do,” he said.
As for unsolicited text messages, Squire said you’re more likely to get them if you use your smartphone to contact a political campaign.
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