The 2012 election season will gain a lot of momentum with the upcoming party conventions — the Republicans up first in Tampa, Fla., this week and the Democrats the following week in Charlotte, N.C. As with any major event happening in the past year, a lot of attention is given to how the online population will factor in.
The party conventions are no different. All the networks, including PBS and C-SPAN, will be streaming the conventions online, and TV coverage will again connect viewers with what’s happening on Twitter. Also, as they bring out a platter of social media accounts, both parties are looking forward to engaging the masses in political discourse.
There is lot to anticipate as these party conventions unfold, and the following resources will help you follow along on the web and mobile.
SPECIAL SITES AND PAGES
2012 Democratic National Convention official website
2012 Republican National Convention official website
Washington Post 2012 campaigns page
Huffington Post Democratic Convention
Huffington Post Republican Convention
Politico’s 2012 Presidential Conventions Guide
Reuters 2012 Election l RNC/DNC Conventions Liveblog
National Review Online – The Campaign Spot
C-SPAN Convention Hub: RNC l DNC
NY DailyNews Live Coverage of RNC Convention
ABC News: RNC Convention Live Stream l Live Blog
TWITTER LISTS
TWITTER FEEDS
Charlotte Observer DNC coverage
Joanne Peters, DNC Press Secretary
Karen McAllister, Tampa Bay Online editor
FACEBOOK PAGES
Democratic National Convention official FB page
Republican National Convention official FB page
Facebook and CNN’s ‘I’m Voting’ app
OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITIES
Pinterest: Dem Convention official
Quora: Republican National Convention topic page
Democratic National Convention topic page
Storify: WUSF Tampa Bay coverage
NBCNews: The Social Media Story of RNC12
Link TV Citizen Reporters Cover the RNC Convention
Tumblr: Tumbling the Conventions
Google+: Republican National Convention official page
PHOTOS
Flickr: Democratic National Convention
Republican National Convention
VIDEO
Youtube: Democratic National Convention
Republican National Convention
CNN: iReport: DNC 2012
MOBILE
Democratic National Convention mobile app
Republican National Convention mobile app
Tampa 2012 mobile app for iPhone l Android
CNN/TIME’s Convention Floor Pass mobile app for iPhone l Android l Web Access
BLOGS AND ARTICLES
9 Concrete Specific Things We Actually Know About How Social Media Shape Elections
Twitter Resources for #DNC 2012
City of Charlotte: DNC Information for Citizens
A Few Memorable Convention Moments
Bradenton Herald RNC 2012 blog
Charlotte Observer DNC Convention blog
Parties’ challenge: Make conventions exciting TV
Everything Changing For Convention Coverage
Previewing the Party Conventions
Twitter rewrites the script for political conventions
If you know a resource that should be on this list but isn’t, please share in the comments, and we’ll add them!
Jenny Xie is the PBS MediaShift editorial intern. Jenny is a rising senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying architecture and management. She is a digital-media junkie fascinated by the intersection of media, design, and technology. Jenny can be found blogging for MIT Admissions, tweeting @canonind, and sharing her latest work and interests here.