Facebook got a shout-out during Hillary Clinton’s concession speech on Wednesday.
In an emotional speech to her supporters after Donald Trump was elected as the next U.S. president, Clinton referred to “secret, private Facebook sites,” much like “Pantsuit Nation,” an invite-only Facebook group of Clinton supporters that grew to more than 1.9 million people and made headlines prior to Election Day. A Maine resident started the group two weeks ago as a way to show support for Clinton, who even posted her own message to the members.
“To the millions of volunteers, community leaders, activists and union organizers who knocked on doors, talked to neighbors, posted on Facebook — even in secret, private Facebook sites,” Clinton said today during her speech, thanking supporters, as the crowd cheered. “I want everybody coming out from behind that and make sure your voices are heard going forward.”
It was the latest example of how social media has played a role during this year’s election. Trump in particular was praised for his use of Twitter and social media in general. Speaking last night on CNN, political analyst Van Jones explained how past presidents have utilized new media, and noted how Trump “understands social media and reality television better than anybody else”:
“When there is a revolution in media — when there is a new media form — a new master usually comes along and shocks everybody. Radio, with FDR. People totally wrote FDR off, and he understood radio better than everybody else and he broke through. JFK, totally written off, but he understood television better than anybody else, and he broke through. Obama, totally written off, but he understood the Internet, and that you could raise money, small donation dollars, viral videos, and he was able to break through. Donald Trump understands social media and reality television better than anybody else, and that’s the era that we are in. Things that you do in social media, like being outrageous and insulting people, doesn’t get you fewer followers on social media, it gets you more. The idea of being the villain. The villain actually is the star in a reality TV show, and he understood this… There is a problem with the Democratic establishment not understanding the media environment that we are in, not understanding where the pain is in the country and taking a lot of stuff for granted.”