How Social Media Drives Politics I. Introduction a. Be wise in choosing what to believe on Social Media because politicians can manipulate you into thinking one thing when in fact what they mean is the opposite. b. Social media tools including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have dramatically changed the way political campaigns are run and how we interact with our elected officials. These websites have made politicians more accessible and allowing campaigns to carefully craft and customize their candidates’ images. c. It is very important to understand how important our role is as active Social Media users to our friends, family, and followers. What we retweet or repost is read by our closest and most important people in our lives, so we should make it worthwhile. d. This thesis aims to find out how much impact Social Media has on Politics in the 21st century and how it affects people’s opinions. • To look at some examples of how politicians are using Social Media • To expound onthe importance of Social Media to politicians • To understand how much impact politicians have on Social Media II. There are a variety of ways in which Social Media is used by politicians to give the right impression on voters so it can benefit their public image. a. According to Tom Murse in his article, “How Social Media Has Changed Politics 10 Ways Twitter and Facebook Have Altered Campaigns”, “Social media tools allow politicians to speak directly to voters. It allows them to circumvent the
Congress, 80% of our representatives use social media to engage with constituents. That has never been done before and is changing how politicians respond. We even see some votes in Congress made based on their Facebook feedback.”(The Economic) The Internet is like being there in the whole scene. Missing out information is impossible, a simply Google search, all the information is stored. When computers came out, it cost thousands, now it’s cheaper and faster. There’s tablets and phones with the opportunity to surf the web. More than half the candidates have some type of social media, either them or a fan.
In the recent article by Philip Bump, “How Politicians’ Use of Social Media Is Reinforcing a Partisan Media Divide”, the author describes how social media has influenced political polarization. The author addresses the general public with the intention to expose how politicians, especially Congress, share certain links on social media to sway the voters. The strength in Bump’s argument lies in his appeal to the reader’s sense of curiosity, his writing style, and his acerbic tone. One of Bump’s strongest arguments is his appeal to the reader’s sense of curiosity. The author uses anecdotes to describe Representative Ted Lieu, whose award winning tweet sparked a rise in his following.
More and more people are getting their news from social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Tumbler and many more, and candidates are using this to their advantage. This election is probably one of the first were candidates have actually used social media sites as their direct communication line to potential voters. Social media today had gone from gossip and family pictures to a location for political strategy. Thanks largely to trumps regular social media first declarations and its actually working particularly with the younger voters. A study released last year from the Pew Research Center that Marissa Lang cited showed that “Among 18- to 29-year-olds, nearly two-thirds said social media is the most helpful means of learning new things about politics.” (Lang, 2016). Even if the candidate isn’t the one posting the video or message in the end it will still end up on social media. For example, Trump had announced his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the united states in South Carolina not on social media however it found its way there and spread like wild fire. This sent those who were outraged to respond in disgust and those who encouraged it to share it so that their friends could see and so on and so on. Even if those who shared it did it to
I hope that in future elections, when someone disagrees with someone else’s post about politics, that they will try to discuss this issue with the person rather than attack them. I hope that in the future elections, the presidential candidates use social media to share their ideas and promote change, not to attack other candidates or political figures. The only way that social media can positively impact American politics is by doing these things and making it a safer space where different ideas are used for natural discussion. If a change isn’t made, social media will have a very negative effect on American politics. Future elections will continue to be as unbearable as this one. People will lose friendships over something as trivial as what someone posted on their Facebook page or what someone tweeted. As demonstrated in this year’s election alone, social media can play a large role in politics. If it’s used for good things, like healthy discussions and the promotion of ideas, then the role will be a great one. If it’s used for the worse, as it was this year, this country will have long elections ahead of
As the US election approaches, more and more people are paying attention to politics and social issues. Some Americans are using Facebook or Instagram to appeal to people to support one of the political parties or candidates. Not only Americans, but also people all around the
By clicking a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” icon on Facebook or other media, sites can give politicians an instant read on people’s opinions. A tool commonly used is fact-checking in which citizens use the internet to find past speeches and other information that can prove a politician wrong. The internet has made the
One benefit of social media is that it gives presidential hopefuls unparalleled opportunities to connect with voters. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are widely
In the United States, much of the media is controlled by Political Parties or commercial corporations. Presidential elections have become a war between media outlets that state either facts or fiction about opposing candidates. This propaganda spreads out to social media such as Facebook and Twitter (Hamilton and Kosar). Because of the bombardment of political propaganda, the producers of this information or misinformation direct public opinion. Government agencies also use networks and social media to sway public opinion as detailed in the Washington Post.
Does Nicolas Carr, author of “How Social Media Is Ruining Politics” provide enough evidence that social media is ruining politics? The answer is a very obvious yes. Overtime, social media has slowly polarized the political perception of the American people. Social Networking is a new, popular medium that has changed the nature of political conversation. Therefore, it has become both a good thing and a bad thing. It has encouraged those who once did not partake in the political process to participate. Social networking is very useful to find out news and information ahead of the news media.. “It has become an easy way for political candidates to connect and communicate with the American people.” (Carr 1) While social media might provide the candidates with a form of convenience because it simplifies and speeds up the communication process, it also provides many ways for their campaigns to be easily and deliberately attacked. Unfortunately, what receives the most attention on social media is outrageous statements. Some candidates like Donald Trump know how to use this to their advantage. The danger in this is that candidates tend to use abrasive soundbites to grab the attention of the social media user. Unfortunately, the abrasive soundbites are often taken out the intended context. Other candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush did not come to this realization as quickly because they did not want to take the chance of hindering their image. They understood that a
Social media has given the human race an unprecedented amount of access to news and information. However, the validity and vetting of this information is often questionable at best. The emergence of websites such as Breitbart, Occupy Democrats, and TheBlaze have given way to a constant stream of partisan
advantage of the multiplier effect that occurs when a person shares an article in social
In the past ten years the way we as a people communicate has changed greatly. No longer is it uncommon for conversations to not be face to face and now more so than ever conversations take place through text. As with any change there will be and is push back to it. The conflict over the consequences of the social media dependent society have now intensified as a result of social media playing ever greater roles in how politics is seen and even conducted. This has been a major societal question since the presidential election of 2008 and the debate has been written about, discussed, and argued by thousands of different politicians,
Social media has grown at phenomenal rates over the past decade, with its rise being easily visible in several fields such as publishing, business, and activism, among others. The rise of its use in the field of politics is well known by those who are on and off social media, as a result of increasing number of politicians using this global platform to their maximum advantage.
In the writing by Briggs (Young People and Political Participation: Teen Players) she notes that “social media are a critical new space for political discourse and engagement, which political institutions cannot afford to neglect” as the younger audiences use social media, and the people they follow as a guide it seemed vital that modern day politics has to infiltrate social media formats. This can be utilised by politicians and their agenda to widen the scope of their message. In the Praeger Handbook of Political Campaigning in the United States, Benoit investigates how successful an organised strategy using new media to win an election can be for political candidates. He states that “the innovative use of new media contributed to President Barack Obama's presidential campaign win in 2008” (Benoit, 2016). Obama's presidential campaign was one of the first to set the standard for political strategy online. The literature talks about the expansion of the internet and how that has provided a suitable platform for political agendas to grow exponentially. With the focus of the research project highlighting the specific use of social media it is important to reflect on the initial stages of online political campaigning, and to understand how Trump has cultivated this style of political
Social media further dissolves borders between the uses of propaganda and public information to forward political-strategic goals. For companies, social media is a great way to promote their brand and their products and attract customers. For politicians the same is true, only in their case they are their own brand.