https://www.facebook.com/realbencarson/
Carson uses Facebook as his main campaign media platform. With it he has raised over $200,000 only in July and August of this year. He has the largest number of followers (4.9 million) out of all of the candidates, followed by Trump (4.5 million) who has had a Facebook page since 2009.
Campaign manager, Barry Bennet, said in an interview with the National Review that the Carson campaign has “dominated the process by converting likes to donors”.
Petitions and polls are also constantly being posted as a means to get new email addresses. With this, campaign organizers design new Carson gear and email the petitioners directly with a link to buy Carson gear.
Facebook is also used to invite people to rallies by making public events
The Facebook homepage also has tabs to links to other social media platforms like Twitter.
Ben Carson’s Instagram page is mainly filled with pictures that keep his followers updated on the polls: where he is leading, and WHO he is beating. The media text also shows pictures of American citizens holding Carson posters with hashtags, logos, and pictures of him.
He uses Instagram to relate to people and make fun of himself to make his campaign more personal.
Nonetheless, he doesn’t have a lot of followers; only 172,000
He also uses Instagram to link people to other social media platforms like Pinterest and Snapchat.
Snapchat
The first mention on Ben Carson’s Snapchat was the last week of november, and followers (viewers) cannot be calculated.
Some “My Story” posts include:
- opening the advent calendar
- in the car going to a rally
- he has one of his PR people take a snapchat of the crowd when he comes out to talk
He does not post on a regular basis (approx. twice a week).
This media text is most likely targeted at a younger audience.
Carson’s Twitter page is advertised on Facebook, but it does not have as many followers as Facebook does.
All of his tweets are in first person and include many videos. This gives him a more personal voice and people feel like they are reading his thoughts.
Not only does he post, but he also re-tweets other people’s posts that mention him (praise, rallies, polls, comparisons to other runners) – “sharing/re-tweeting” is a very common application to Twitter and is what makes tweets go viral and reach audiences it would not target otherwise.
News and Polling
More media appearances have increased Carson’s polling. Interest in Carson seems to keep skyrocketing as he gains more exposure – and as he continues to speak out boldly. According to Google Trends, interest in Carson spiked during both presidential debates and the last time he gave a slew of interviews, including one in which he said he wouldn’t support a Muslim president in late September. And over the last week as the candidate has upped his media presence even more (including an appearance on Charlie Rose’s talk show Saturday and an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” coming this Sunday), searches for him have also increased.
August 6, 2015: 9
August 7, 2015: 100 after GOP debate
September 16, 2015: 32
September 17, 2015: 75 after second GOP debate
“The second Republican debate was all Carson’s for the taking: the retired neurosurgeon’s appearance comes off a recent surge that has rocketed him to the No. 2 spot in the race.” – CNN Jeremy Diamon