The presidential tweet is the new presidential announcement.

The first two candidates for their political party, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted Cruz announced their 2016 presidential bid via social media. Clinton released a two-minute video on Twitter with a declaration tweet that read, “Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion.” Cruz, also using Twitter, posted a thirty-second video and tweeted, “I’m running for president and hope to earn your support!”

Rand Paul and Marco Rubio also declared that they would be running for president via Twitter, in addition to their speeches at Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky and the Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida, respectively. These presidential announcements used to occur quietly and closer to the time of elections, but they have become a bigger deal.

“It just shows how communication has changed in today’s society,” said Uyen Bui (12). “They probably thought it would be more effective since social media moves so quickly and therefore reaches a large amount of people in a short time.”

In addition to the short statements telling the public of their plans to run for the 2016 election, these candidates have begun to use Twitter to summarize their policy plans and push their campaigns forward.

Though Clinton has an advantage in the presidential race due to her high name recognition, she has also been criticized for not aligning herself with the average citizen. On Twitter, pictures show her discussing the price of college with students at Kirkwood Community College and posing with a family she met while on the road to Iowa.

Ted Cruz, on the other hand, is using Twitter to highlight what some may call traditional values, throwing phrases like “The Constitution means what it says” and “We need to get back to the principles that made America strong.”

Both Paul and Rubio are using Twitter as a portal for other links and sites. For instance, Paul posted a URL for a Facebook poll and an article he wrote on Politico. Rubio even gave out his Snapchat username.

“It’s a little odd right now,” said Georgina Chiou (11). “It kind of feels like your parents friending you on Facebook. There’s that sense of “What are you doing here? This isn’t your territory.” But I think a social media president is a growing necessity in today’s society.”

Each politician still uses traditional campaigning methods, such as traveling on the road trying to convince the constituency why they should be the next president. Even so, these live events will be populated with phone-toting people who will probably record everything for their favorite social media website.