Gov. Rick Perry Uses Facebook, Twitter to Even...

Finally, Gov. Rick Perry is using Facebook and Twitter as a tool in his campaign for the Republican nomination. However, the Texas governor is making a late entry into the social media networks race.

Rick Perry is far behind Romney, Bachman, Paul, and even Cain on the Internet

The good governor, who emerged recently as the current front-runner for the Republican nomination is mounting an aggressive game of catch up.

Apparently, his campaign brass sat down with him, discussed his momentum, and weighed options in putting some distance between he and Mitt Romney.

Now, he is relying less on traditional resources like yard signs, and more on building social networks on the Internet.

Besides, today if a candidate wants to get their message to their constituency, television and radio networks may only reach a small number, while social media targets a larger audience.

Furthermore, using fan pages and sending out tweets is less expensive than costs of running television commercials and booking radio spots. In short, it's based on what gives Gov. Rick Perry more bang for his buck.

However, other GOP rivals are making a stronger impact in reaching potential voters. For example, Governor Mitt Romney has about seven times more followers on Facebook than Gov. Perry.

"Social media makes it easy to identify and reach out to those individuals who are very engaged and then turn them into proselytizers," said an expert according to a Miami Herald report.

Even if Gov. Rick Perry gets the GOP nod, he faces Obama's enormous Facebook and Twitter followers.

When it comes to targeting voters and followers on social media, no other politician does it better than President Barack Obama. As of 9/18/2011, the incumbent president has over 23 million Facebook fans.

Should the Texas governor prevail against Obama, his victory would debunk the belief that bigger is better in social media.

Look at Herman Cain for instance. Despite the former God Father's Pizza CEO elaborate social media campaigns in place over his Republican rivals on Facebook and Twitter, his campaign lacks vitality.

As such, Rick Perry must plan months ahead on how effective his current momentum as the Republican front-runner would be in a general election against Obama.

His populist approach on the Internet cannot be overlooked if he has any chance in unseating the sitting president.