Forget email, phone calls and press releases – presidential hopefuls are getting the word out on Snapchat.
Or at least that’s what former governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley is doing. Just Tuesday afternoon, O’ Malley sent out a series of Snapchats, one of which confirms the location of his expected May 30 presidential announcement. The snap reads “Saturday, May 30th 10:00 AM ET” with the welcome sign from Maryland’s Federal Hill Park shown in the background:
He also sent a direct snap to my account, teasing the importance of May 30:
A press release from the campaign confirms the snap is in fact his “special announcement” location, while also tweeting out the news:
O’ Malley, who joined Snapchat on March 6, has been using the platform to chronicle his life behind-the-scenes.
Other presidential hopefuls are also using Snapchat to engage younger audiences. Republican candidate Marco Rubio (R-Florida) just published his inaugural Snapchat story with the username “marcorubio16”
And earlier this year, democratic candidate Hillary Clinton used Snapchat on International Women’s Day, days after O’ Malley joined the platform. Here’s her full snap:
Republican Presidential hopeful Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) however was the first high profile politician on the platform back in January of 2014, saying initially he joined the platform to avoid the NSA:
He also participated in the first ever Snapchat interview with CNN:
Which begs the question…
(gif via tumblr)