Social Media has become one of the greatest mediums when it comes to sending and receiving messages. Currently, about 65% of Americans use social media to connect with others. For many it has become a way to stay informed, share news and express opinions. With that being said, it’s an effective venue for politicians to rally support. Last election we saw Barack Obama’s team engage the public by reaching out through Facebook and Twitter. Since then the number of Facebook users has grown from 44.3 million in 2008 to 143.3 million in 2012; Twitter users have shot up from 3.4 million to 24.1 million; and online video viewers have jumped from 121.4 million to 178.8 million.  88 percent of Internet users receive most of their election news online and 62 percent expect candidates to have a social media presence, according to SocialTimes.com This year we can add Google+ to the social media entourage and with a more advanced perspective on the reach of social media, we can assume that its’ presence during this presidential election will be notable.

Here are 5 ways you can expect to see social media being used during the campaign for presidency this year.

1. Foursquare will be used more this year. Currently Mitt Romney currently has over 3,800 followers and has used the location based application by checking into various places around the country.  He has a high level of engagement by checking into over 5 places in the past few days and offering followers ‘tips’ about the places he has visited. “Try the corndogs” Romney suggested after checking in at the Iowa State Fair.
2. YouTube will be a huge factor in gaining viewership and extending messages to potential voters. YouTube was vital in the turnout of the 2008 election when President Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” (perhaps better known as the “Yes We Can” speech) was viewed a groundbreaking 1.2 million times within the first 24 hours of posting it. On March 27, 2008, the Pew Research Center called the speech “arguably the biggest political event of the campaign so far,” noting that 85 percent of Americans said they had heard at least a little about the speech and that 54 percent said they heard a lot about it. With that sort of power we are sure to see more campaigns using the video sharing site with hopes for similar success.
3. Twitter has become much more important as far as following candidates and important issues goes. This year was the first ever presidential debate hosted entirely on the popular social networking site. 140TownHall.com has the entire debate shown on their site. Perhaps the appeal of this tactic is keeping arguments down to 140 characters, helping the candidates to be concise and direct when answering.  It’s for this reason that we foresee this being the first of many Twitter gatherings during the election process.
4. Google+ is new but shouldn’t be overlooked. On January 30, 2012 Barack Obama hosted the first ever presidential “hangout”.  The virtual interview was conducted with 5 citizens from across the country and the questions asked were contributed by more than 227,000 people. Over 133,000 questions were submitted and more than 1.6 million votes were cast as to which of these questions they would like to hear President Obama address.
5. Of course we know that the social media titan, Facebook, will be a huge part of the election process. Every candidate has a Facebook page and actively posts content. Followers can subscribe to their pages to see behind the scenes content like video of Ron Paul before a debate. Facebook has also encouraged participation with their Election Day event inviting Facebook users to get out and vote.

5. This one from Lawson Hembree V brings back the polaroid. We really like the photo stacking idea!

4. This next one comes from Ekkapong Techawongthaworn. There’s a storm of creativity going here.

3. We thought this was a pretty tricky way of keeping the old Facebook layout without actually keeping it. This clever idea was brought to us from Andrew Grojean.

2. Mohammad L. Azzam makes us smile when he takes this quote from Steve Jobs quite literally.

1. Our top spot goes to Vinh Nguyen for this masterpiece. In Vinh’s cover photo he gives us his timeline into the future. He checks in on the moon and even wins the lottery in the year 2039.

Have you seen any creative Facebook profiles? Visit us at www.facebook.com/RealTimeMG and show us who you think deserves to be on the list.

This year’s lineup includes Uncle Kracker, G. Love & Special Sauce, and plenty more.

Garlic Fest is not complete without food, food and more food! Check out Gourmet Alley where attendees are able to try a wide array of unique garlic inspired dishes, including the fan favorite; garlic ice cream! Fine wines  as well as the Garlic Oasis Bar, sponsored by downtown  Delray Beach’s very own Crane’s BeachHouse Hotel & Tiki Bar, is also available.Garlic Fest is also home to the Garlic Chef Competition where professional chefs from all over Florida compete to be named the Garlic Chef and take home a $1000 prize! All prepared dishes must of course, include garlic.

Those coming as a family have plenty of amenities to keep kids entertained, including Garlic University which offers art activities for free, as well as an educational experience. And as always, there’s a Children’s Area filled with recreational activities.

Garlic Fest starts on February 10th and runs all weekend through February 12th so make sure to stop by and leave with a wonderful experience! Tickets are still available!

Visit their website for more information and click here to see what RealTime Marketing Group has done for Garlic Fest this year!

For more on the outcome of Delray Beach Garlic Fest’s 2012 social media campaign, please visit:www.realtimemg.com/GarlicFest and find them on Facebook here:www.facebook.com/DelrayGarlicFest