Obama Campaign uses technological networking to win

 "The key networking advance in the Obama field operation was really deploying community building tools in a smart way from the very beginning." said Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford law professor who gave the Obama campaign internet policy advice.

The campaign of Barack Obama in 2008 obliterated the campaigns of other candidates who either refused (John McCain claims he doesn't even utilize email), or did not recognized the importance of the public's new focus on the internet and social networking. Recognizing an advantage, Obama focused his efforts on reaching individuals who would use these tools to help win the election. Social media has the ability to create multiple levels of trust based on relationships.  Social media also allows information and opinions to travel across networks, amplifying messages and allowing individuals to participate as an opinion leader through media production and distribution, not just by passive consumption as does traditional ad campaigning.

Obama dominated the social media space because his team understood the advantage of networking.  The real power of social media is not in the number of posts or Tweets but in user engagement measured by content transmission. An important aspect of the Obama campaign’s social media success came from the increasing development of online data collection. The Obama field offices ranked call lists in order of support allowing them to mobilize volunteers to get people out to vote.
Obama has set the bar for future campaigns, and social media and network structures seem to now be given serious attention in the media strategy, whether it’s for politicians, organizations, brands or public service initiatives.

http://fgamedia.org/faculty/rdcormia/COIN83/pdf/How%20Obama%20Really%20Did%20It.pdf