Newt Gingrich has taken to Twitter to officially announce that he is running for President in 2012.

Gingrich, a former House Speaker, has become the third official candidate for the Republican presidental nomination, following Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.

Romney and President Barack Obama also launched their 2012 presidental campaigns through social media — Romney began his campaign with a YouTube video, while President Obama asked Facebook users, “Are You In?”

Gingrich tweeted a link to a page on his campaign website that featured a YouTube video in which he stated several reasons why he felt he should become the next President of the U.S.

Gingrich is certainly keen to appear as if he is in the loop when it comes to social media. After all, Facebook and YouTube were very important to President Obama’s successful 2008 election campaign.

[Image Credit: flickr, gageskidmore]