As the USA works through it's debt crisis, Facebook and Twitter have become central tools as Congressman, Senators and journalists look for a digital platform to air their views and debate in real time. CNN have reported that politicians have been increasingly using Facebook to get feedback from constituents, run opinion polls and to reach new constituents. Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for Facebook, said: "Over the past week, our team has seen a marked increase in the number of members of Congress speaking directly to constituents through their official Facebook pages."
Social media has become a battleground in the debate, with Democrats pushing strong Facebook and Twitter campaigns against John Boehner's Debt Ceiling Bill, whilst Beohner himself has been using his personal Facebook page to air his views, with one of his posts getting over 15,000 comments last week. Personal Democracy Forum founder Andrew Rasiej told CBS that voters find political statements made through Twitter and Facebook more authentic, and it gives the politicians a chance to bypass the agendas of big media corporations: "Imagine polling from years ago being instantaneous...That's what social media, Twitter and Facebook, allows candidates or congressmen and citizens to do with each other." Rasiej continued: "Obama is trying to use social media to create a 21st century fireside chat -- the difference is, when we were sitting at home in the Great Depression we couldn't talk back to the radio. Now, everybody gets to talk back." As of today, the USA is now poised to approve a deal to avoid defaulting on its debt.
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