Compared to candidates before him as well as in the 2008 election, Obama formed and implemented a completely new way of campaigning. Rather than using to use the more traditional methods of communication, such as radio and television ads, televised speeches, and written statements in newspapers, he used new literacies that reached out to a modern society. The new literacies he chose to use included YouTube videos (viral and scholarly), blogging sites, Facebook fan pages and applications, personal websites, and even an iPhone application that allowed you to contact your friends who live key caucus states to further support of Obama. Through these new avenues of communication, Obama was able to rapidly gain popularity and recognition, as well as gain funding more efficiently to aid him in his election. By viewing his website alone, you can see his personal statements and thoughts on a variety of issues, as well as donate to his campaign in increments as small as just five dollars (mybarackobama.com,1). Obama collected one of the largest funds for his campaign of any presidential candidate in history because of the millions of negligible donations—it allowed for even those without a high income to contribute and feel involved with his campaign and decisions. Another thing that contributed to his wealth as a candidate was the fact that very little was being used for advertising his campaign. He used almost exclusively online videos on sites such as YouTube, paying millions less than he would for television. For example, if Obama had bought the 14.5 million hours on television that people spent watching his videos, he would have paid around 47 million dollars (Miller, 1). This amazing amount of funding paired with his instant and contagious popularity and recognition aided him drastically in the election, especially early on in the race.
Here's Obama's personal campaigning site:
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