Synergy University: Online & Print Media Information You Need to Know

This post is part of a series called Synergy University. Think of it like a 4 week course you take in school except that we will not be assigning homework or exams and we promise not to put you to sleep.  Follow our posts on Twitter with the hashtag #SynergyUniversity!
As anticipated, things got heated last night during the third and final debate of the 2012 Presidential Election. In a previous blog post, I discussed (in detail) the importance that direct mail still holds in campaigns. In the 2008 Presidential Election nearly $644 million was spent on advertising in newspaper and print resources. This year nearly $875 million was spent - a 108% increase from four years ago.

The huge jump in funds spent on online advertising did not surprise me. In 2008, $22.2 million was spent. This year that number increased by 616% - over $150 million. Over $5,000 million was spent on radio, TV and cable ads in 2008 compared to almost $8,000 million this year. Totals so far are about $9 billion - with fifteen days until polls open.

Other interesting figures from the 2012 election: 1/5th - The number of social networking site users that avoid making political comments for fear of offending others
10% - The percent of social network users who have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone because that person posts too frequently about political subjects
38% - The percent of people that use social networking sites and have discovered that their friend's political beliefs were different than they originally thought
38% - The percent of people that use social networking sites and have posted positive comments in response to a political post/status update from a friend
Source
-Marysa Miller
You can follow me on Twitter @Marysa_Miller