Slacktivism In The United States

Writing and Inquiry Assignment 2 Dylan Hannah.

Power to the people? web 2.0, Facebook ,and DIY cultural citizenship in Aotearoa New Zealand. By Ian Goodwin. 

The aim of Ian Goodwin’s article “Power to the people? web 2.0, Facebook ,and DIY cultural citizenship in Aotearoa New Zealand” is to fuel a more informed and critically diverse debate on the values of web 2.0 as so far most of the conversation on this topic has been children 's safety on the internet .The target audience is fairly wide however given that the article is from MediaNZ it is safe to assume that the principle demographic this is aimed toward Media Studies students ,and teachers. Goodwin uses a range of strategies to fuel the broader discussion on the values of web 2.0: Repeated words with the purpose of accustoming the audience to the words, Target audience as a strategy with the purpose to gain a more informed and critical discussion and structural placement with the purpose of highlighting the global and local importance of web 2.0. 

The title is significant in revealing the authors intentions to make the article a debate rather than something with a correct ,or incorrect answer. The question mark is interesting because it is the first thing that the reader sees ,and it begins make them question what they already know and don 't know about this topic. It is already making them analyse where they stand on this issue ,and why. I tend to think that making the given audience already think before they

Society’s dependence on a vast array of information and communication technology has not only changed the way we communicate but has also reinvented social activism. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and forum websites like Reddit has given digital activism more potential than ever before to create real change. Whether the activism pertains to political, social or economic changes–digital technology allows individuals working collectively to achieve a common purpose with more ease in their pursuit of change.

The objective of the study lies in the investigation of the media habits of college students. By examining the motivations of college students’ media use, the study will present insights into the relationships between young adults and various forms of media. Research about the current heavy reliance on social media among young adults provides an expanded understanding of the most effective media channels with which to reach college students. The insights gained through the research will reveal optimal ways of using media to appeal to college students and garner their votes in political campaigns.

Additionally to television, many political figures including Barrack Obama use social networking as a way to reach American citizens. Social networking is practically a right of passage among youth today. Political influences are in all types of media. Any young person that uses social networking or watches television is choosing to not pay attention to politics. “It would be reading too much into such responses to say that these two-thirds of young Americans didn’t value voting; they could well have seen voting as a fundamental right or a crucial choice. Nevertheless, without a

The group that has caused concern in their voting outcome is the young population group that live in rural areas or areas where there is a lack of civil institutions and a low rate of political participation. Stereotypically, the young population tends to vote more liberal than the older, more conservative age groups, but recently the young voters who live in rural areas have defied this trend. The past election saw more than half of the rural youth voting for Donald Trump’s more conservative ideas, while 55% of their urban and suburban counterparts voted for Clinton’s liberal platform (Kawashima-Ginsberg 2017, 1). The term “Civic Desert” has been coined to describe areas of the country where young adults do not have the available resources for education about government, and where there is little exposure to current political issues. These areas see numerous differences in political opinions and usually see more hostile views towards our nation’s government (Kawashima-Ginsberg 2017, 1). These “Civic Deserts” do not have to be in rural areas but about 60% of them are. There is a serious problem that needs to be addressed when young adults are having hostile opinions about our government due to the fact that they simply are not educated or informed enough on various political topics and issues. Their opinions seem more to be based on their feelings of alienation from the government and their environment, instead of their own personal opinions developed by

Research objectives of the project are to understand the impact of information sources on young voters' disengagement with politics, to explore probable factors influencing voters/first-time voters' decision-making process, to measure young adults' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards politics and to identify political information sources used by young adults/first-time voters.

In the mid-1960s, three main factors contributed to the increase in youth involvement in politics at this time. The younger generation had a different mindset than the generation before them. They believed in love, acceptance, and tolerance. Secondly, teenagers wanted their opinions to be heard; they wanted change. Finally, the younger generation knew their parents’ life was falling apart and they felt they were doing nothing to fix it.

It is no surprise that today 's youth faces a wave of disillusionment when it comes to politics. Surrounded by a world engulfed in Google and Facebook, we demand instant responsiveness in every aspect of our lives, including our government. As a result, the need for transparency and immediate interaction has ebbed Millennials ' faith in their government. Their numbers are stagnant in the polls and yet their willingness to emphasize "political correctness" seems to magnify when a politically related hashtag erupts on Twitter. The political ignorance of America 's youth arises from one rudimentary cause– a widespread disdain of the current political structure– that is further exacerbated by various factors that discourage Millennials to vote and participate in an active civil society.

Young adults focus their attention on more entertainment stories such as the Summer Olympics and the release of two controversial movies according to the Pew Research Center’s data. The major problem is young people get such little exposure to political events and news reports that few such facts get through to them (89). When someone votes, it is more than likely that person voted because they actually care who wins. Wattenberg stated, “People who have a clear personal interest in who governs and what the government does are therefore more inclined to vote” (95).

My article from the Monkey Cage is titled “What makes young people more excited about politics? Deciding how to spend municipal budgets”. This article talked about how much the young adult voter turnout rate is very low, but is beginning to rise due to the topic of participatory budgeting. I learned that participatory budgeting is basically a type of democracy, in which ordinary people get to decide where the public budget goes to the reason that youth are interested in participatory budgeting, is because they feel like their voice is actually being heard. In addition, youth like it when young people approach them about politics better when someone older does so because they feel like their more equal. It also states that youth think, it is

American politics and the government surrounding it are often marred in cynicism and negativity. Such skepticism is, obviously, unhealthy and is not very conducive when it comes to encouraging the younger generation to get involved in political affairs. David Rankin attempts to tackle this dilemma in his 2013 book US Politics and Generation Y: Engaging the Millennials. In this paper, Rankin’s work will be summarized, followed by an evaluation of myself using Rankin’s criteria, and then discussing a recent political event that arrested my attention during my tenure as a Political Science 104 (POL 104) student at the University of Wisconsin – Richland.

A significant decline in political participation is apparent in the younger generations of this country. As a result of this lack of involvement, the future of young Americans is jeopardized if they fail to make their voices heard and utilize the influence they have on their government. If the youth do not express their ideas and goals that should be accomplished by society, consequentially, the leaders of this country will strive for goals whose are not those of the people. According to the memorable and historical leader, Thomas Jefferson," Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone.The government was intended to serve the people. This cannot be accomplished if the people choose not to vote. However, there

A key point here is that the Net displaces political activity. Struggles of everyday life are moved to a virtual sphere. Because we feel like posting a blog (like this one) is participation, political energy is redirected, or perhaps distracted, away from “real” organizing. We feel like we’re participating, but it’s a protected space, containable, predictable,

Maturity has no history. Youth and politics will never mix. So it follows that teenagers, in their imprudence, will misuse the vote. At sixteen (says Ellie Levenson of the Fabian Society) ‘teenagers are at their most rebellious and negative stage, a time when they are more keen on making a statement than acting responsibly.’ Like hysterical suffragettes bent on dragging passions into politics, or ill-mannered nineteenth-century workers, young people are a danger unto themselves. ‘Let us not provide’, runs Levenson’s objection, ‘an extra means by which teenagers can rebel against authority, by either abusing their vote or not voting at all.’

The literature addressing the connection between political engagement and social media has offered diverse findings. Some scholars, such as Venezuela, Bode, Park and Kee, and Zhang, Seltzer, and Bichard discovered positive relationships between social media and political engagement. Following this, scholars Valenzuela and Vitak et al, Zuniga and Jung comprehended affirmative relationships as well, but with some limitations to specific kinds of social media. These studies confirmed a constructive relationship between social media and political engagement, but with restraints and limitations regarding citizens who would probably be engaged even without employing new media. For instance, Zuniga et al pointed out that social media may contribute to the production of networked society, but the study also has shown that the effect of social networking sites for political efficacy did not have a meaningful relationship. Vitak et al stressed that social media, Facebook in particular, may encourage a rise of political participation, for instance, through online petition, but this type of participation has little to no real world impact. However, some studies have not found a strong correlation between social media and political participation. Baumgartner and Morris, for example found low effects of social media on political engagement and political outcomes. The study has shown that “in spite of the promise social networking sites hold for increasing political interest and