Welcome to the first 'Twitter election'

Already, 2012 is shaping up to be the first “Twitter election,” but the social media site presents both pitfalls and opportunities for political campaigns.

The rise of new Internet services has been a game changer in recent campaign cycles. In 2006, a YouTube video of then-Sen. George Allen (R-VA) using the term “macaca” helped sink his reelection bid, and in 2008, then-Sen Barack Obama (D-IL), energized his young supporters through Facebook. In 2012, the Web phenomenon most likely to change the political dynamic is Twitter, the social networking site that creates a real-time loop of communication among its users. Patrick Hynes, a communications consultant who worked for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and Tim Pawlenty’s Political Action Committee in 2011, said Twitter can be an effective tool for pushing stories onto the media’s radar.