Social Media's Influence On Presidential Elections

Before televised debates, presidential candidates were assessed on their campaign slogans, individual plans to better America, and their moral character. Consequently, the September 26, 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate forever changed the way Americans would assess their future President of the United States of America. The Kennedy-Nixon Debates

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

In the article “Did Social Media Ruin Election 2016,” the author, Sam Sanders, makes many valid points about social media, one being that it is not being used for what it was created for. Today, especially these past few months during the controversial election, social media has been used as a place for users to argue with others that do not agree with them. Sanders goes on to make many other points about social media being used destructively, and I agree with the vast majority of them.

Technology has changed our lives in more ways than we can possibly write down. It has changed our lives more than we have even realized. The biggest impact that technology has had on the power of the presidency is the way the information spreads. Social media sites have made politics more accessible for many Americans to voice their own thoughts, whether negative or positive. The internet has had an huge impact on the presidential campaigns as well. The social networking sites have always played a powerful role in politics. The candidates can use social media sites as an advantage in order to speak to their voters by direct message. Social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the television have dramatically changed how political campaigns are run and how Americans react to election offices.

The date was September 26 1960, at exactly 7:30 p.m., somewhat an unfamiliar young and Catholic Senator from Massachusetts was about to change the world. One of the most unusual points on the timeline of history where things changed very drastically all in a single night, was about to change the political domain and of course the world. Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon was about to partake on an adventure that was ordinary. On that night, one of the most legendary moments transpired. This moment increased the power of television and benefited electioneering since the political button on a shirt. The Nixon-Kennedy encounter had all interest, with the nation watching the first televised presidential debate.

Many people were very confident in Nixon’s ability to win the election quite easily because his opponent, John F. Kennedy, was little known nationally and had a reputation as a playboy in Washington circles. However, Kennedy took advantage of the new, modern campaigning techniques and used the television more than personal contact. The presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy was the first one ever televised. Kennedy came off as very strong, confident, and appeared to be in control. Nixon, on the other hand, refused to wear make-up and appeared haggard and almost ghost-like. The election of 1960 was one of the closest in history with Kennedy winning by only 100,000 votes nationwide.

1948 was a very important year for debates because of the very first radio broadcast. This event brought 40 to 80 million listeners closer to the debates than they had ever been. Years later in 1960, the first televised debate between Nixon and Kennedy created a whole new campaign. After this occasion occurred, the presidential debates were expected to be a part of every election. They were extremely popular and a very important part of the campaigning.

On September 26, 1960, Kennedy and Nixon engaged in the first of four televised debates on issues of national importance. It was the first time T.V. Had been used to beam presidential debates where people could watch it from

It is the source that allows the public to know what is going on with the candidate and vice versa. Television allows candidates to address a large portion of their electorate without having to visit each individual district, which could be considered a very expensive and time consuming task for a presidential candidate. Although, there are different mediums of media that has influenced American politics, as it relates to the 1960’s election, the most persuasive effect were the televised debates. During the time period of 1960, not everyone owned television sets, but those who did had much more engagement with Kennedy and Nixon’s debates. They were able to feel the presence of the candidates as well as critique based off presentation and appearance. Families who did not have television sets still tuned in to the radio, but were eager to own television sets. Like-minded to class lectures and readings, media is one of many heuristics voters use when selecting the best fit candidate in

Overall, our theory that social media use is a cause for voter turnout was not supported through our tests. Our results from our hypothesis chi-square test, our regression analysis, and also our predicted probabilities test show that social media use does not have a significant effect on voter turnout in the 2012 presidential election. Our theory may have been flawed in thinking that less people are dependent on social media than we originally thought. This can been seen in our graphic that a majority people do not use social media at all for obtaining political information. Social media sites are still on the rise and are not as widely/frequently used as we previously anticipated. The millennial generation and generation z are the most common

There is so much that continues to happen in the media that affect all of us especially our kids. The information that the media pours out has social responsibility. Music, clothing, behaviors all have been and can be influenced by the media. You have teenagers that base their clothing on what a lot of these celebrity’s wear. I personally try to stay out of the habit of following trends but it does get hard.

So, communication practitioners should clearly differentiate their candidate reputation and personality traits to target the right supporters who are frequent voters. When wanting to increase voter participation, candidates need to also look at the importance of voter registration and utilizing the process on social media.

Over time the way a Presidential campaign is run has evolved and changed, and who has the power in a race has shifted. Beginning in 1960, public image was taken to a whole new level. The first televised debate between Nixon and Kennedy revolutionized how a candidate had to perform—the public had a clear split.

The effects of mass media and social media have changed the way people have experienced presidential campaigns in many ways. With the development of new technologies through the last hundred years many different ways of experiencing the campaigns have taken place. Newspapers, radio, television, internet and social media websites have changed the ways we all have experienced elections.

Information flow is a crucial component of any electoral process. The modern leadership dynamics, which embraces democracy, rests on the electoral processes as the tools for gaining power. It, therefore, means that an environment where the information flow is free, efficient and seamless experiences balanced power distribution. In other circumstances, some people could, by design or default, have the upper hand in the access to information. This means that these individuals have greater balance of power to exercise it over others who may not be privileged enough to access it (Bates). This is the context that explains the role of information agents or media and communication in leadership dynamics. Therefore, with the