Social Machine Politics Are Here to Stay

The US has always been ahead of the curve in digital politics. Its mega-campaigns collect and spend absurd quantities of cash, they last forever, and they're run by the candidates, not the parties. Obama's campaign was Obama's, not the Democratic Party's. The US provides space for entrepreneurialism and experimentation, not least in the use of technology. Other nations will follow its lead. And the stories were microblogging, social networks, and big data.