Michelle Obama’s online presence

michelle obama

The latest weapon in the online campaign of Barack Obama is his own wife Michelle, as testify the thousands of hits she gets on youtube with the speech she made at the Democratic Convention in Denver this week.

She may have been the subject to a lot of criticism, with her remark in Wisconsin about the first time she was proud of America, a remark that, undoubtedly unintentionally, became big on the Internet.

But, it has to be said, she has come a long way from the woman she was last year to the business-minded lady she is now. And one that knows how to enthral the media, whether it is on television or on the internet.

The use of the internet, through technology like blogs, mass texting and online phone banks has been key to Barack Obama’s success in his campaign for the US presidency. His strategists have been making use of a range of technologies -from ringtones to SMS - to inspire people to vote for Obama. A strategy that seems to work.

Online groups have also contributed. MoveOn.org for example raised substantial funds for the senator; $500,000, and created online applications through which its members could engage in a peer-to-peer online endorsement campaign by sending out e-mails and Facebook messages to their friends recommending him. Then there were those supporters that engaged in a viral marketing campaigns through online music videos.