• Network World, Tuesday, January 3, 2012 11:57 AM

Similar to social in 2008, some pundits suggest that mobile could be a key differentiator in this year’s presidential election. “The explosive growth in smartphone usage and the introduction of tablets since 2008 could make or break the candidates for president in 2012,” writes Network World. Which party has the upper hand? Perhaps neither, say analysts, as “the GOP and President Obama's campaigns are not yet making many mobile-specific connections to supporters via smartphones or tablets.”

Some campaigns appear to have special links on their Web sites for getting updates via SMS to a phone, but, notes Network World, “they don't appear to have candidate-specific downloadable mobile apps on Apple's App Store or the Android Market so far.” As Rob Enderle, an analyst for Enderle Group, explains: "Smartphones and tablets are much more mainstream now, and these devices are literally driving the Occupy movement and the revolutions in the Middle East.

Adds Enderle: "The ways we connect to one another have changed quite a bit in the last couple of years. Candidates need a good social media campaign to win, and social media done right includes mobile, because mobile allows candidates to loop in supporters in the moment and stay in touch and respond in real time.”

Read the whole story at Network World »