Republicans were behind the curve in 2008 when barack Obama broke new ground with the use of social media in his presidential campaign. According to The New York Times, GOP candidates learned their lesson. The below article points out several ways that current GOP contenders are utilizing social media to spread their message.

In Alabama, we’ve yet to see a candidate or current elected official fully harness the power of social media. As broadband penetration reaches further into the rural areas of our state, online outlets are going to play an increasingly important role in getting our message out.

This is how a growing number of people now view social media:

Who else wakes up in the morning and checks their Twitter like its the morning paper?

— Laugh! (@Laughbook) December 26, 2011

It’s time for us to stop looking at social media as a vanity exercise and instead see it as a new front that we have to win for our cause.

RT @DaxSwatek: Republicans Shake More Hands Using Social Media nyti.ms/sIg1wb (@VincentHarris)

— Alex Schriver (@AlexSchriver) December 29, 2011

From The New York Times:

When Iowans search for information on politics on the Web, Mitt Romney’s tutorial on how to caucus pops up.

Newt Gingrich is using Facebook to recruit volunteers to make calls on his behalf to Iowa and New Hampshire. And Representative Michele Bachmann is creating videos from her bus tour of the 99 counties in Iowa as part of an online get-out-the-vote toolkit for precinct captains to share with friends and family.

After using Facebook and Twitter in recent months primarily to broadcast their messages and raise money, the Republican presidential candidates are increasingly turning to social media sites and other online tools to mobilize voters before the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday and in the other hotly contested early-nominating states.Read More…