White House Aims to Optimize Facebook and Twitter Efforts

It is unclear to what extent the official White House Twitter and Facebook accounts will be used as subtle campaign arms for Barack Obama’s reelection efforts. However, a handful of stats from a recent unscientific survey of White House followers and “likers” indicates the administration is interested in optimizing how the social platforms are used.

The results posted on the WhiteHouse.gov site last week were not based on a scientific study, yet they could offer a glimpse into what the administration deems important in the social media realm. For instance, the administration asked about how frequently people share White House posts and tweets, and what type of content they’d like to see posted to the accounts.

Of those who responded to the survey, more than 56 percent said they share Facebook posts from the White House monthly, and 78 percent said they’ve shared a post at least one time.

Twitter posts from the @Whitehouse account were retweeted by 35 percent of those surveyed at least once per month. Fifty-eight percent said they had retweeted a White House tweet at least once.

“The White House is obviously a major player in the 2012 election and we can intuit that they are actively thinking about who their social media audiences are and how to communicate with them most effectively,” said Laura O’Shaughnessy, general manager of SocialCode, a Facebook marketing agency based in Washington, D.C. The agency released data today on Facebook adsfeaturing GOP candidates and key election issues.

The administration also appears interested in gauging what people want to read on the two platforms. “Top requested content” included breaking and latest news, photos of the day, and “interactive” posts such as links to live streams.

Evidently the administration counts some news items more appropriate for its Facebook likers, while other items are promoted to more narrow audiences by the reelection campaign. Case in point: The White House site featured a live stream of its White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics event on May 26, but neither the White House Facebook page nor the Twitter account mentioned it, instead focusing on the President’s visit with G-8 leaders in France.

The Obama 2012 camp’s Latinos for America Facebook page did, however, promote the event. “The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics works to ensure that all Hispanics receive a competitive education,” noted a post linking to a live stream of the event to announce new members of Obama’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

“We’ll be using this information to help improve and guide the efforts of our online program in the upcoming weeks and months,” noted the White House site.