Today marks Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention. Much like last week's Republican "Convention Without Walls", much of the reporting this week will be social, with the Democratic National Committee relying heavily on social media sites to increase accessibility to voters nationwide. While Democrats gather in Charlotte, NC, to rally behind President Obama, delegates and journalists will be sharing the sights and sounds of the convention on sites ranging from Facebook to Instagram.
With such a wide variety of social media outlets, it's hard to keep up with the conventions. That's why we've put together this guide to following the 2012 Democratic Convention on social media:
The Official Sites of the 2012 Democratic National Convention
The official Twitter handle.
The official Facebook Page.
The official Website.
The official YouTube Channel.
The official Google+ Page.
The official Pinterest account.
The official Instagram via Statigram.
The official iPhone App.
The official Flickr photostream.
Hashtags of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina
#DNC2012 The official hashtag of the Democratic National Convention (with Twitter Hashtag Page here)
#DNC Democratic National Committee
#DNCC Democratic National Convention Committee (planning and organizing)
#DNCdelegate Tag DNC Delegates will be using
#NCDNC North Carolina Delegation hashtag
#NCpol North Carolina Politics
#NCdem North Carolina Democrats
#POTUS President of the United States of America
#FLOTUS First Lady of the United States of America
#CLT and #Charlotte Most commonly used tags for Charlotte, NC
Keep an eye out for these Twitter accounts
@BarackObama The #POTUS
@MichelleObama The #FLOTUS
@JoeBiden The #VPOTUS
@DavidAxelrod Political Advisor to Obama
@Messina2012 Obama's campaign manager
@Charlottein2012 Charlotte in 2012 Host Committee for #DNC
@DemConvention Democratic National Convention Committee
@NCDemParty North Carolina Democratic Party Election news for Democratic Party
@DemocratWire
@theobserver The Charlotte Observer newspaper
@DNC2012clt For Observer coverage.
@CBJnewsroom Charlotte Business Journal
@WBTV_News CBS Affiliate in Charlotte
@WSOC_TV ABC Affiliate in Charlotte
@FoxCharlotte Fox Affiliate in Charlotte
@WCNC NBC Affiliate in Charlotte
@wbtradio Charlotte’s news, weather and traffic station
@ppldnc Charlotte’s non-partisan home for bloggers & independent media
Twitter Lists
If you don't want to follow every Democrat attending the DNC2012, the Democratic National Convention has created some lists that can help you follow the convention without actually following accounts on Twitter:
DNC2012 Speakers, Podium Tweetup, Tweetup for the Keys
From the official Twitter account of the Democratic Party:
State Democratic Parties, Democratic Senators, House Democrats, Democratic Governors
The Huffington Post has also compiled a few useful lists on Twitter, to help you filter through the endless stream of updates:
DNC 2012: Delegates Delegates and other attendees of the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
DNC 2012: Journalists Journalists at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
DNC 2012: Officials DNC and OFA officials.
If you're not on Twitter, you can it here.
CNN is also following the action of the conventions on Facebook, with their "Elections Insights" Page, where you can track conversation and mentions for political candidates throughout the conventions.
Will you be following the DNC on social media? If so, what social networks will you be checking?