The social soapbox: Democrats will embrace visual platforms at the 2016 Convention

Social media platforms have since become the modern-day soapbox, providing new channels through which candidates and parties engage with voters. For evidence of the digital revolution, just follow the money. In the 2012 election cycle, political campaigns spent $159 million on digital media. In 2016, that figure is expected to top $1 billion. However, campaigns still largely use social media like they use television — by talking to the voters rather than with them. T

he 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (PA) will change that in a way that should make every party, candidate and campaign manager sit up and take notice. In 2016, the Democratic National Convention will bring supporters into the conversation and tell the story of this historic event through the eyes of the attendees. Understanding that communication in this digital age is becoming increasingly visual, the convention will take the images captured by attendees and connect those images to other relevant information that supporters may be on the lookout for. Layering in this information and making all of these images "intelligent" will transform each image into an opportunity to engage supporters beyond the convention hall and lead them to information and action like never before. What’s more, the convention will track the performance of each image, and use that data to guide decisions about messaging.