Methods and Implications of the Obama Campaign's use of Social Networking tools

A fundamental understanding of communication has always been at the center of a politician's arsenal, but a firm grasp on the future of communication can be the secret weapon that wins the war. For Barack Obama it was Social Networking which made him boost up his popularity in terms of votes. President Obama had voters following him on twitter, adding him on Facebook and also MySpace.He had the whole USA in the palm of his hands just by being a regular on social networking.Was it fair that a lot of Obama's election came down to "Who's most popular"? Or was it clever usage of social mainstream sites, where his popularity was more of a bridge to his strong connection with the people. Clearly Obama was able to reach out to his potential voters in a very modern manner, which of course only boosted his stock. So in all fairness, Obama just maximized his utilization of social networking and in doing so, gained more then an upper hand in his political regime.