The debate marked a turning point in the political history of America, as the television overtook the newspaper as the most influential source of media for the people.

Nixon might have won over the nation’s radio audience, but the healthy, California-tanned Kennedy took the first televised debate over a pale, makeupless Nixon who just had recovered from a two-week illness because he knew showing his capability to run the country was about more than just the words he spoke. The times were changing, and Nixon simply seemed far too rundown to keep up with them.

Today, a changing of hands in the power of media made a similar impact on the current presidential election cycle. Yes, the same social media outlets our parents and teachers mocked us for wasting time on suddenly are becoming worth the time of our presidential nominees.

Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama spent a chunk of their campaigns cultivating a social media presence they hoped would get people talking about them. According to two Pew Research Center studies, the number of Americans who have taken to social media sites to learn about the campaign has doubled since January, and four in 10 Americans have used them to interact with the election.

It was pretty astounding to see the comments, likes, tweets and, later, memes that occupied my computer screen following Obama’s comment in the last debate about “horses and bayonets.”

In another day, these comments might have been covered on the news hours later or reached the newspaper the following day.

But today, they captured the public eye instantaneously. Facebook and Twitter do not simply represent estimated eyeballs glaring at a screen, but people looking to exercise their thoughts with their friends, family and colleagues willing to listen right now.

Where the television once was a representation of public opinion, social media is the purest form. The whole purpose of going on Facebook and Twitter is to speak your mind, and unless you’re able to talk to someone in person, social media is as close as you’re going to get to understanding how people truly feel about something.

The power of reaction cannot be underestimated, and if you’ve ever been on Facebook and seen an explosion of posts about a sports score or the conclusion of a television show, you understand just how open people are about their feelings and where they go to express them. As teenagers, we continually were warned to watch what we say on the Internet, but now we are being encouraged to spell it out.

The power of an image has taken an entirely different form in 2012. Showing up with a nice tan ready to go might have struck a chord in 1960, but to get people to sing your praises today, you’ll have to do much more.

How the candidates present themselves in person and how they represent themselves in the world of social media have become distinctly different and important aspects to the American public.

Although Obama has been noted for his use of Facebook and, later, Twitter to build a relationship with his favorable demographic — the youth vote — Romney also stood to gain much more today with older voters than he might have just four years ago.

I think we all can remember the day our world changed and one of our parents sent us a friend request. It might have been a shock at the time, but the number of our parents, aunts and uncles and even grandparents engaging in social media steadily has risen since the 2008 election.

Whether you like it or not, they’re here to stay, and making plenty of noise to let us know it. Social media use by adults older than 50 is on the rise, and according to another study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2011, republicans and democrats use these sites at roughly equal rates. Facebook and Twitter no longer are chat sites — they are platforms for all to raise awareness about the viewpoints that make them who they are.

Social media use slowly has become less about the people who need to talk about everything that comes to their mind and more about the reactions we share when something important strikes our mood.

Michael Briggs is a guest columnist at The State News and a journalism senior. Reach him at briggsm3@msu.edu.