1. Barack Obama, Hipster-in-Chief

    By Ying Wang

    While candidates duked it out during the Iowa caucus in January 2012, President Barack Obama’s campaign made the surprise move of joining Instagram, an important decision that could affect the outcome of this year’s election. In many ways, this is a social media match made in heaven. President Obama, who has a long history of being social media savvy, is already acquainted with photo-sharing sites like Flickr in addition to other platforms like Google+, Foursquare, Facebook, and Twitter. However, this move to join Instagram will be the first time the President will use a mobile-only platform.

    Instagram, which launched in 2010, is an iOS-exclusive application that allows users to take photos with their iPhone’s built-in camera and then transform the pictures using the free custom-designed filters (retro effects, grainy black and white, adjustable tilt-shift options, etc.) Instagram users then have the option of adding a caption to their new photo along with geotagging and the ability to share their creation on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, Posterous, or via email. Despite the application’s relatively short lifespan, it has grown exceedingly popular, with more than 15 million users and 400 million photos uploaded. It gained further attention in 2011, after Apple named Instagram the “iPhone App of the Year.”

    President Obama’s decision to jump on the Instagram bandwagon signifies the continued relevance and importance that social media is serving in his campaign. In 2008, he set himself apart from his opponents by being the first presidential candidate to throw out the old campaign model and embrace and successfully utilize social media.

    Obama's new campaign model

    He didn’t rely on voter lists, phone banks and direct mail to reach his public, but instead placed his trust in social media platforms and technology to create a more personal connection with voters. Instagram fits perfectly into the President’s ideology. It offers the average user (and voter) the opportunity to peer into a more private and candid side of President Obama and his campaign.

    Obama's first upload

    Above is the first snapshot the President uploaded on Instagram. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at him speaking to Iowa caucus goers via video link.

    While the people at Instagram are pleased with the extra attention and corresponding download increase, Obama’s latest social media outreach isn’t without its problems. Fore instance, there are a number of Instagram users who disapprove of their new, fellow photographer-politician and are taking to the comments section to voice their dismay with his policies. 

    “Is that a picture of you signing away our rights? I hope they lock your ass up on terrorism when you leave office,” is an example of a post by one irritated user.

    As of right now, Instagram does not offer high profile users like President Obama the option of moderating his comments section. It’s unclear whether Obama’s campaign team would even be interested in moderating individual comments given it’s laissez faire approach on his Facebook page. 

    Campaign staff currently run the @barackobama account, which saw an influx of 30,000 new followers just two days after its launch. The campaign staff have also invited followers to contribute by posting their own photos of the campaign trail using the hashtag #Obama2012.

    It’ll be interesting to see how influential Instagram will be in swaying voters to reelect President Obama. Social media already helped him win one election, but will posting artsy candid pictures help get him into the Oval Office again?

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