Social media plays vital role in 2016 presidential race

In the age of hashtags and selfies, social media has proven to be a vital campaign tool.

“If Bernie Sanders was running the same campaign in 2004, he wouldn’t have a shot in the dark,” said college student Cade Pustelnik.

But thanks in part to online resources, Sen. Bernie Sanders has been able to spread his message on college tuition and health care – big topics for millennials.

“Our generation, most people once they go off to college, don’t even have a TV. All they have is a computer so almost 100 percent of our news comes directly from our social media sites,” said Shane Wright, president of the Cabrillo College for Bernie Sanders Club.

On Tuesday to get votes for Sanders, Wright along with a group of other Cabrillo College students in Aptos hosted a phone bank party. While traditionally that would mean calls to eligible party voters, these students were also texting and sending Facebook messages.

“Young people in general don’t answer their phone when it’s a number they don’t know and don’t listen to voicemails. So I think that texting and Facebooking is more effective with young people,” said Wright.

Sanders isn’t the only social media presence. Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush have their own Instagram accounts and both were the first to use Snapchat to announce their bids for president.

Still, Sanders seems to be the biggest hit with the social media generation.

“He had a speech where he asked who the best candidate is and everyone said ‘you’, and he said ‘not me, us.’ And everyone was like alright, that’s a hashtag now,” said college student Daniel Drysdale.

Although millennials are a big chunk of the voting population, historically getting young voters to the polls isn’t easy — a challenge Sanders faces if he wants to advance to the general election.