A digital election day puts focus on social media

By Phoebe Chau and Ryan Fung

Election day was finally here. After a two-hour drive from D.C., we arrived at Omni Richmond Hotel, Virginia, where the Republican Party was to hold its election party.

The weather was cold, but the hotel was filled with passionate supporters and hard-working reporters from all over the States. As the only Hong Kong media here, we worked with Voice of America to cover the election online.

To try to boost readership, we used social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to do live reporting from the site. At the hotel, we saw most people carrying smartphones, not digital cameras. We thus believe that the importance of social media will only become greater in the near future.

Staying at one of the tables for the press, we enjoy our experience in doing live reporting for the U.S. presidential election.