Social media played a significant role in the “47 percent” controversy besetting Mitt Romney, yet his campaign has not addressed the subject on the various platforms.
The term
#RomneyEncore was one of Twitter’s trending topics on Tuesday, as thousands of tweets mocked the candidate. The
YouTube clip showing Romney utter the infamous remarks has
more views than any of his campaign videos, while the
campaign’s Facebook page is packed with nasty comments.
Meanwhile, President Obama has launched a full-scale social media assault on his opponent, with one online video showing people react to the “47 percent” remark.
The Romney campaign’s response to the social media onslaught: Ignore.
Neither
Gov. Romney’s Twitter feed nor
that of his campaign have mentioned the video. His top spokesperson,
Andrea Saul, hasn’t tweeted since the video story broke, nor has his top strategist
Eric Fehrnstrom.
There’s nothing on the campaign’s Facebook page or YouTube account addressing the video. Its prolific
blog has avoided the topic, as well.
Businesses that don’t respond to social media attacks in online venues are often criticized for failing to address a crisis adequately. When President made his infamous “You didn’t build that” statement, the campaign
waited two weeks before releasing a Web video that addressed the incident.
Instead of tapping social media, the campaign has taken a more traditional approach. On Monday night, Gov. Romney called a press conference to address the video, while the campaign issued statements to the press. The following day, Romney appeared on several talk shows.
The campaign has not gone silent on social media. It’s using sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube—along with the campaign blog—to try to reset the conversation by drawing attention to President Obama’s redistribution of wealth, the nation’s debt problem, and Romney’s appeal to Latino voters.
[RELATED: Mitt Romney’s ’47 percent’ remark: 5 reasons it hurts]
(Image
via &
via)