Social media 'staged' at conventions?

The omnipresence of Facebook, Google, FourSquare and other social media at the GOP convention is billed as a way Americans can interact with pols from afar — but some say it’s now just part of the political theater.

Paul Ryan’s Facebook campaign page featured a posting of a video titled “The Cheesehead Revolution has hit Tampa!” And at nearly the same time Mitt Romney was being nominated from the floor, the GOP presidential and vice presidential candidates both tweeted, “If you have a business and you started it, you did build it. And you deserve credit for that.” Even the purveyors of the major social media outlets acknowledge that the seemingly altruistic goal — to use social media to connect the public to its leaders — can be manipulated just like many of the other tools of modern politics, from TV debates to attack ads. “More and more politicians are getting more used to being careful in terms of what they say and what their post is to make sure they think through it just like anybody has to think through what they say when they’re in a public setting representing their company,” said Katie Harbath, who leads Facebook’s Republican outreach.