Barack Obama recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel to participate in the “Mean Tweets” segment of the show. Mean Tweets is based around having celebrities read the rude and offensive tweets that fans – or rather, anti fans, have written about them. It was almost surreal to watch the president of the United States, usually a person who appears far removed from the general public, reading tweets about his graying hair or those complaining about the price of beer – finishing, of course, with a “Thanks Obama”.

With the 2016 election coming up, it may have occurred to many that the candidates for the next four years (or more) are all a lot less incorporated into the social media scene. There appears to be a bit of a generation gap between the nominees and the voters. They don’t seem to be as involved as the people they are attempting to win votes from, most of which have grown up around technology, the internet, and perhaps most importantly, social media.

When the main platform for discussion of worldly issues is social media, it will be interesting to see how the 2016 presidential candidates adapt to these. To gain appeal from younger voters, many may have to take more of an active role on sites such as Twitter or Facebook. Perhaps a foray into reading those tweets will make them more appealing to the younger demographic.