One area that social media is starting to touch is politics but I must say the pace of change in the way politicians broadcast their message has been slower than in some other sectors. I suppose in the same way that traditional media was able to control the message for years politicians are very much in the same boat and reluctant to give up that power. On the flip side though are the game changing advances that can be made by politicians who do have the balls to embrace the technology and really open up and speak directly to the people. We all know how social media helped Obama to get elected and even Downing Street have gotten into the act recently by answering questions directly from the public but one man stands head and shoulders above the rest for his whole hearted approach to embracing social media…Arnold Schwarzenegger (or @Schwarzenegger.)

The star of The Terminator movies hasn’t just made a half hearted attempt but is fully committed to using tools such as video, Twitter, Twitpic, blogging and podcasts to help get his message directly to the people who matter. There is something really reassuring about hearing directly (even though the message is probably vetted by his team) from somebody of such importance without it having to pass through the media, for the first time ever we can hear directly from the politicians. For too long politicians were able to hole themselves up in their offices and assemblies without having to go out and talk to the public directly but once again social media has changed an entire industry for the better and we now have unprecedented access to one of the most powerful men in the world.

Here is one of the typical videos Arnie releases to the Californian people and you can see how people comment here and leave video responses with some great interaction.

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