Social media may attract women voters

Social media is not just for America's youth, but also America's women -- and sites like Twitter and Facebook may be a factor in winning their votes this year considering women make up about 58 percent of social media users.

"At the end of the day the demographic that's most important is women," James Andrews, a social media commentator and blogger for FastCompany.com, said. "Women dominate the use of social media."

The number of people using networks like Facebook and Twitter doubled between the last presidential election in 2008 and the midterm elections in 2010 to 850 million users.

In that time, though, the proportion of male social media users fell 3 percent, according to the Pew Research Center.

President Obama won 56 percent of the female vote in 2008, helping give him the edge he needed to win the election over Republican rival Sen. John McCain.

Also according to Pew Research Center , 22 percent of online American adults used social network sites or Twitter for politics in the 2010 campaign.

Currently, Obama is leading in the polls among women voters. He is also beating his GOP rivals by millions of Twitter followers and Facebook 'likes.'

It's becoming more clear that women will have a strong influence in the 2012 presidential elections. Obama, addressing women's issues on Friday at the White House, said he wants to help working women fight discrimination as they deal with the demands of motherhood.

"But I do think that the conversation has been oversimplified," Obama said. "Women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. You shouldn't be treated that way."

Mitt Romney's wife Anne has addressed women's issues while introducing him, trying to twin that appeal with the candidate's chiefly economic message.

"The women that I speak with, and the women that my wife speaks with, tell her that their number one issue is the economy so that they can get good jobs for themselves and their families," Romney told Newsmax.TV Wednesday.

"Women are going to use this platform to speak and to engage," Andrews said. "I wouldn't even be thinking about age. I'd be thinking about women."