NEW YORK (AP) — @BarackObama is on Twitter. So is @MittRomney. And so are all the voters following the 2012 presidential contest, whether they know it or not.

Candidates, strategists, journalists and political junkies have all flocked to Twitter, the social networking hub where information from the mundane to the momentous is shared through 140-character microbursts known as tweets.

While relatively few voters are on Twitter — a study by the Pew Research Center found that about 13 percent of American adults have joined the site — it’s become an essential tool for campaigns to test-drive themes and make news with a group of politically wired “influencers” who process and share those messages with the broader world.

Put simply: When a voter is exposed to any information related to the presidential contest, chances are it’s been through the Twitter filter first.

“The subset of people on Twitter may be relatively small, but it’s a politically engaged audience whose influence extends both online and off,” said Heather LaMarre, a University of Minnesota communications professor who studies social media. “It’s not the direct message that has the biggest influence on people — it’s the indirect message.”

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu