Особенности использования социальных сетей в президентских кампаниях 2016 и 2020 г. в США: сравнительный анализ

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the experience of using social networks as a political marketing tool in the US presidential elections. This article partially touches upon the global topic of marketization and digitalization of both the political process in general and at the level of the US presidential election. The paper highlights the changing role of social media as a policy tool, which today has become not only a tool for distributing content, but also one of the tools for analyzing data from the electorate. The author explores the possibilities of social networks, their strengths and weaknesses and development prospects in the field of political marketing. The work touches upon the role of social networks in the formation of «Electronic Democracy», their impact on the candidate's image and the relationship with the personalization of politics in the United States. The main method in the article is comparative analysis. The result was the definition of the role, key features of the mentioned social networks in the field of modern politics. A certain theoretical contribution is seen in the argumentation of the following observations: the speed of interaction between the candidate and the voter through social networks has increased, in addition, the area of image-making has been partially «digitalized». It was revealed that technologies of information influence on American voters, which positively influenced the results of the 2016 presidential election for the Republican candidate, lowered D. Trump's ratings during the 2020 elections.