Anderson Cooper Doesn’t Get CNN’s “Social Media Screen”

By 1:30AM Wednesday, reporters seemed to be losing it as they awaited for the Iowa caucus results. Watch the video below as Anderson Cooper pokes fun at CNN’s social media screen showing real-time tweets along with other social data. CNN’s on-air talent encouraged viewers to send tweets including hashtag #cnnelection, which would then appear on the screen.

Other networks have been taking to social media to gain relevance and engagement for the election season. NBC has teamed up with Foursquare to map the campaign trail. According to Paige West, the Creative Director of MSNBC.com, “Understanding where candidates go on the campaign trail and why they go there is a fascinating story that we wanted to share with consumers. Visually mapping the campaigns’ activities as we progress through each state’s nominating contest and the general election is the best possible way to bring that story to life. Without Foursquare, it wouldn’t be feasible for us to produce this type of content.”

While Google isn’t necessarily a traditional network, it has still become a hub for social and real-time political content. The site has teamed up with Fox News Channel to power their social media election coverage showcasing Google search trends and Google News keywords among other data on-air.

ABC is taking advantage of their partnership with Yahoo!, with a live blog including curated tweets.