US President Barack Obama has turned to social media again as he used an exclusive website, Twitter and Facebook to launch his 2012 re-election campaign.
The campaign has begun with http://www.barackobama.com/?source=botw. The website carries links of Tweets, Facebook, a video and it invites supporters to get involved or make a donation to the campaign. It also offers a new range of branded merchandise, including 2012 badges and T-shirts.
The introduction in the websites says, "This campaign is just kicking off. We’re opening up offices, unpacking boxes, and starting a conversation with supporters like you to help shape our path to victory. 2012 begins now, and this is where you say you’re in."
The dominantly blue coloured new campaign’s logo features the image of a rising sun used in 2008, but this time it is placed inside the "0" of 2012.
Obama told the 7.28 million followers of the @barackobama account on Twitter, "Today, we’re filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign."
"We’re doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you — with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build."
Obama hopes to use social media to start big discussions.
He wrote in the website, "We’ll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year’s fight."
However, there seems to be a drift away from the central thme of his candidacy in the last elections "change". In the message, Obama admits that he needs to put in more effort to bring lasting change.
He wrote, "We’ve always known that lasting change wouldn’t come quickly or easily…But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we’ve made — and make more — we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.
The website also has a video for his supporters. The two-minute YouTube video has Obama supporters airing their voice in support of a second term for him at the White House.
