What is Ground War

Has social media changed voter participation in presidential campaigns? Prior research has found that advances in social media has resulted in candidates focusing more on the “ground war” and less on mass media. Nevertheless candidates could be doing more to incorporate the Internet into their campaigns. This is particularly true when using social media in a manner that could allow interaction between the candidate and supporters. Candidates had been structuring social media use in a manner that gave an illusion of interaction. This has recently changed as a result of the success of Republican nominee Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential primaries. This success had been in part because of his strong social media presence which has led to other candidates changing their social media use. This chapter explores the change in social media use in presidential elections and its impact on voter turnout.