Politically-oriented social media made its headway in the 2008 election cycle, a time heralded as the first social media election. Since then, the role of social media – and of Twitter in particular – has only grown. In the space of 140 characters, Twitter provides a platform to fan both fame and infamy. It also provides a forum for public commentary. This has been especially true during the ongoing election season, in which comments and news have been relayed in real-time as conventions and debates take place.
A Twitter-wide craze of creating accounts that parody famous figures has also spread into Twitter’s coverage of the presidential election season, with handles impersonating anything from Governor Romney’s horse to zombie President Obama to Elmo. These accounts certainly were relevant in the moments and days following newsworthy content from their authentic counterparts. While some have continued to cultivate Twitter-cult followings, others have sparkled and faded into deadweights in a user’s following stream. North by Northwestern breaks down five popular, or at least once-popular, political parody accounts to examine where they were then and where they are now in the true Twitter fashion of 140 characters or less.
1. @PaulRyanGosling
Why was it popular?
Ryan Gosling’s Hey Girl memes are still going strong, so combining them with Paul Ryan created the perfect recipe for philogynous giggles.
Where is it now?
After nearly being shut down, it came back to its dreamy-but-disturbing roots. The Hey Girl meme sustains @PaulRyanGosling’s popularity.
2. @ThePresObama
Why was it popular?
Rather than having sprung from a single event, @ThePresObama is a multi-thematic, uncensored fantasy of what President Obama would say.
Where is it now?
@ThePresObama has been steadily rising in acclaim and will be relevant as long as President Obama is.
3. @InvisibleObama
Why was it popular?
Clint Eastwood’s Republic National Convention speech inspired this account to impersonate the chair Eastwood addressed as President Obama.
Where is it now?
The #Eastwooding hashtag is no longer trending, but @InvisibleObama still pokes fun at Eastwood’s eccentric speech.
4. @BigBirdRomney
Why was it popular?
@BigBirdRomney was a poster-bird for rallying against Governor Romney’s plans to defund public broadcast.
Where is it now?
The novelty of Governor Romney’s “I love Big Bird” comments has worn off and @BigBirdRomney has moved towards more general news tweets.
5. @SilentJimLehrer
Why was it popular?
The ellipsis-ridden Twitter account provided a snarky commentary on Lehrer’s moderating during the first presidential debate.
Where is it now?
There’s uh…only…so much that…uh…can be said...