9781422277300

Tech 2.0

When Obama first ran for president in 2008, he knew the impact the in- ternet and social media sites, such as Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube, could have on the race. By the time of his Reddit appearance in 2012, the president had mastered the technology, posting nearly four times as much content as Romney and, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, “was active in nearly twice as many platforms.” “In theory, digital technology allows leaders to engage in a new level of ‘conversation’ with voters, transforming campaigning into something more dynamic, more of a dialogue, than it was in the 20th century,” Pew said. Reddit by the Numbers A ccording to the internet social marketing company Ignite, the average Reddit user is male, between the ages of 35 and 44. They make be- tween $25,000 and $50,000 a year. Many have at least some college edu- cation, and most of the people live in the United States. In 2017, more than 542 million

people visited Reddit each month, making it the fourth most visited website in the United States, and the ninth in the world. During the year, 6.89 billion people gave the various posts on the site “upvotes,” and posted 725.85 million com- ments.

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