Twitter partners with Square Inc to add campaign donation buttons

NEW YORK  - U.S. political campaigns are increasingly using Twitter to get their message out, and now they can accept donations via the social media site.

 

Twitter Inc said on Tuesday it had partnered with mobile payments company Square Inc to enable anyone in the United States to make an online donation to a political candidate through a tweet.

 

Candidates seeking the Republican and Democratic party nominations to run in the November 2016 presidential election can now register with Square to enable links they can tweet to request donations from supporters.

 

Twitter said in a blog post that users can then donate by clicking on a "contribute" button on the candidate's tweet and entering their debit card information.

 

Few candidates will suffer from an easier, more interactive donation process, but those with less name recognition and a broader, more active base stand to gain the most, said Daniel Kreiss, Assistant Professor of Political Communications at the University of North Carolina.

 

"The candidates who have engaging and lively and very quick responses," Kreiss said, "are going to be the ones who are going to be able to benefit from this."

 

Among the presidential candidates, Republican Ben Carson and liberal Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, have large social media followings that help them overcome a lower profile in the media than some of their opponents.

 

Republican front-runner Donald Trump has 4.15 million Twitter followers but the billionaire real estate mogul has less of a need of donations because his campaign is largely self financed.

 

The biggest benefit from the Twitter donation deal announced on Tuesday would probably come from a chance to better promote the candidates' brands, not necessarily their ability to raise the most money, said Robert Entman, Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.

 

The big money, so-called Super PAC (political action committee) donors would continue to dominate fund raising.

 

"Younger people tend to use Twitter more and they might have enthusiasm, but they probably have less money to contribute," Entman said.

 

The Republican campaigns and their supporters will tweet up a storm on Wednesday night when the party's main candidates debate for the second time in TV prime time at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

 

The first Democratic debate is scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 13.  — Reuters