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NEW YORK – politico Tim Pawlenty disclosed his 2012 statesmanly aspirations on Facebook. Rival Mitt Romney did it with a tweet. President Barack Obama kicked soured his re-election bid with a digital video emailed to the 13 meg online backers who helped noesis his instance crusade in 2008.

Welcome to The Social Network, statesmanly crusade edition.

The candidates and contenders hit embraced the cyberspace to far greater degrees than preceding White House campaigns, act candid with voters on platforms where they impact and play. If Obama's online army helped delimitate the terminal crusade and histrion Dean's cyberspace fundraising revolutionized the Democratic candid in 2004, next year's vie module be the prototypal to reflect the panoptic ethnic migration to the digital world.

"You hit to verify your act to the places where grouping are intense noesis and spending their time," said Romney's online director, Zac Moffatt. "We hit to recognize that grouping hit choices and you hit to accomplish them where they are, and on their terms."

The most important of those destinations include the video distribution website YouTube; Facebook, the giant ethnic network with 500 meg astir users; and Twitter, the squawky informal place where news is prefabricated and mutual in tweets of 140 characters or less.

All the campaigns hit a robust Facebook presence, using the place to place videos and messages and to patron online discussions. In the latest act of the site's accomplish and influence, Obama plans to meet Facebook office in Calif. this reaching weekday for a springy chat with consort founder Mark Zuckerberg and to verify questions from users who accede questions on the site.

Candidates hit embraced Twitter with an intensity that rivals imbibe grapheme Justin Bieber's. Twitter was the politico hopefuls' papers of pick terminal Wednesday, moments after Obama gave a budget style occupation for whatever set increases and decrying GOP proposals to cut Medicare.

"President Obama doesn't intend it. The fear of higher taxes tomorrow hurts employ creation today," river Gov. author Barbour tweeted.

"The president's organisation module blackball jobs and process the deficit," instance House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned in a tweet, attaching a link to a more careful evidence posted on Facebook.

In the past, candidates would hit spinous supporters to their websites for much a response. Now, as Moffatt puts it, "the crusade place haw be headquarters, but it needs digital embassies across the web."

Republicans erst seemed slow to harness the noesis of the web. The party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. Evangelist McCain, told reporters he didn't modify ingest email. The 2012 hopefuls hit worked hard to establish their cyberspace savvy, specially with ethnic media.

Pawlenty "understands the noesis of newborn profession and he wants it to be at the forefront. We are going to contend aggressively with President Obama in this space," spokesman Alex Conant said. Conant spinous to efforts to springy course videos to Facebook and award points and badges to supporters in a way that mirrors Foursquare, the emerging location-based mobile site.

Former Alaska Gov. wife Palin, McCain's 2008 running mate and a possibleness statesmanly politician this time, has prefabricated Facebook a centerpiece of her act efforts to supporters.

Palin has been criticized for treating it as a one-way modify of act that allows her to road candid questions from reporters and voters. Other Republicans insist they're willing to wade into the messy digital bust and cede whatever curb of their message.

"We trust our supporters and poverty to err on the side of giving them more control, not less," Conant said.

Just as ethnic networking liberates candidates to verify their act candid to voters, it offers plentitude of pitfalls as well.

It's prone to mischief, with mountain of imitation Twitter accounts and Facebook pages popping up regular that are witting to untune the candidates. Also, a candidate's gaffe or an contradictoriness on issues crapper be counted on to go viral immediately.

Gingrich has gotten ensnared in whatever online traps. His manifest back-and-forth on whether the U.S. should interact in the conflict in Libya was discussed widely and amplified online. He prototypal advocated expeditionary engagement, then came discover against it after Obama ordered airstrikes.

Twitter lit up with the news that a picture on Gingrich's exploratory website showing grouping waving flags was a have picture erst utilised by the New progressive Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

Spokesman Rick President rejected much criticism and said Gingrich has pioneered the ingest of digital technology.

"Over 1.4 meg grouping follow him on Twitter. He has a very astir Facebook. There are eight websites adjoining to organizations started by Newt (that) ingest ethnic media platforms to transmit to their coalitions," President said.

But Josh Dorner, who tracks GOP candidates online for the Center for dweller Progress, a progressive conceive tank, said the politico statesmanly hopefuls materialize to be unprepared for the vindictive pace of the digital age.

Obama, who in 2008 had to better from plentitude of web-amplified flubs much as his interpret that taste diminutive town voters "cling" to guns and religion, module belike be more nimble, Dorner said.

"We are agitated in a warp speed environment, and none of the politico candidates wager the media surround in which they're operating. It puts them at a huge separate to the president," Dorner said.

Strategists also feature the large digital innovation in 2012 haw not modify hit surfaced yet, modify as campaigns amount discover how to do trenchant microtargeting ads for Facebook and impact to amend "apps" for sharp phones rather than laptops and traditional TV.

"As with anything, there's going to be a shiny newborn cell sound every sextet months," said Matt Ortega, a instance online thinker for the Democratic National Committee. "You're going to wager both newborn tools and more sophistication in existing tools."

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