U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D.-NY)’s Twitter account sent a Yfrog picture of a man’s (clothed) crotch to a female follower. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced his bid for president with a social boost. And former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continued her cross-country bus tour/campaign rally that snubbed the press while honoring her social followers. As we said, strange week.
This weekly series picks out the week’s top stories in the intersection of digital technology and politics.
Weinergate
On May 27 a picture of a man’s underwear-clad groin was sent from Weiner’s Twitter account. The tweet, which also mentioned a young female journalism student, was quick ly taken down but not before several online sources could grab the image and make it frontline news. Weiner claimed his account was hacked, later calling the photo a prank.
However, his cagey responses to the press as well as his refusal to completely deny that it is him in the image have left many to question whether Weiner is just trying to cover an embarrassing mistake. The adorably named “Weinergate” drama is starting to die off but is one out of many recent gaffes on political social media accounts. The Columbia Journalism Review summed it up with a best-of roundup.
Romney Announces Presidential Bid
Mitt Romney announced his presidential bid Thursday. While the former governor made the announcement the old-fashioned way, he has been an avid user of social media, including a YouTube video about his exploratory committee and a tweet that read: “Making it official next week at the Scamman Farm in New Hampshire.” You can find a breakdown of the...
