With six days to go, there is still plenty of time for the social media world to have its say on the upcoming election. In the lead up to November 6th we’ll try to bring you the top social media moments emerging from the campaigns.
——————————————————————————————————————–
Are the key issues of this election getting lost in the memes?
This question was posed by Al Jazeera on Twitter today, and it certainly sparked much debate. Here are just some of the responses:
@ajstream unfortunately US elections come down to sound bites & picking the lesser of 2 evils instead of reading their stance on issues
— John Sakakini (@JSakakini) October 31, 2012
@ajstream That’s just it. Memes substitute discussion on substantive issues like jobs, climate + peace for political slapstick comedy.
— Austin Thompson (@BrotherAustin) October 31, 2012
@ajstream theses memes are just a tool that are used to create some kind of humour that has no real affect on the presidential election!
— Idil (@aldebellaa) October 31, 2012
@ajstream most meme pics tend to swing the younger population……with a little humor it attracts an agreement among uneducated voters.
— Haseeb Arif (@Big_Haas22) October 31, 2012
Although Sarah Kendzior, a writer for Al Jazeera, says memes are a useful way to parody politics, she thinks that they can also have the tendency to lose track of what’s at stake.
What do you think? Are memes just a bit of fun, or are they actually distracting us from the political failings of the candidates?
——————————————————————————————————————–
The Obama Campaign in Pictures
Chip Somodevilla, a Getty photographer travelling with President Barack Obama, is building a name for himself through posting some of his behind the scenes shots on Instagram. A couple of the exclusive snaps are shown below.
Source: Instagram
——————————————————————————————————————–
More Money than Sense?
Today the British bookmaker, Paddy Power, revealed that they have taken a whopping five-figure bet on Romney to win the election, although it is yet unknown as to whether the Republican candidate placed this bet himself.
We’ve just taken a monster 5-figure bet on Mitt Romney to become the next U.S President at 11/5! #USElection
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) October 31, 2012