Local Social Media Expert Weighs In On 2012 Election Cycle

By Melony Roy

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - President Barack Obama may have won another four years, but it was social media that made this election historic.

For the first time, social media served as a critical tool in both campaigns.

"Everything this election cycle as well as last election cycle is recorded and cut into sound bytes and disseminated. It's really made it easier for people to get a sense of what candidates are like for both better or worse," says Jonah Berger, Professor of Marketing at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the upcoming book Contagious

But does it have an effect on voting?

"It's not like we sit there for hours and read every policy that each candidate has and weigh the cost and benefits. We vote the same way we buy things at the grocery store. We take a look, we get some sense on whether it's good or not and we pick which one we think we are going to like the best," says Berger.

Election 2012 did make Twitter history last night, becoming the most-tweeted event of any U.S. political contest.