Thursday, October 20, 2016

Social Media's Influence on the 2016 Election

In the present day we are in, social media is more prevalent than it has ever been before. And it becomes more and more popular and used every single day. It is a platform for people to be creative and to express themselves. It is also used to publicize events that are not yet very popular. Events so little in importance blow up and become the “next thing”, while those that are very important become known by all.

The presidential election of 2016 is one of the most controversial elections that Americans have experienced. Especially millennials, with this being the first election that many can vote in. This election has been all over every social media platform that can be thought of: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, even Snapchat. These platforms give politicians a good way to campaign so that their policies and messages can reach people all over the country, of any status, gender, race, or age etc. Social media, resonates strongly in many people’s lives, especially those aged 18-late 20’s even early 30’s. This is because social media has become an extremely large part of their lives. Take Donald Trump’s twitter account, which is actually detrimental to his campaign, is a huge part of his persona. That is one of the places where he shares opinions and interacts with others.

It also serves as a way for people to get educated on the election and the candidates- without actually trying. Personally, I can open Snapchat without any purpose or reason, and I see an article all about the debate from last night. Even if someone is not interested in the election, they can close out from an app having actually learned something new. 

4 comments:

  1. The problem with getting educated on a subject "without actually trying" is that it bypasses your bullshit filter. You're more likely to uncritically accept whatever hogwash is being presented.

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  2. I defiantly agree that social media is a great way for people our age (mostly) to learn more about politics. For me personally I was never much into keeping up with political matters but then i would see something on facebook or something that everyone was tweeting about and would want to know more. I do have to say that you need to be careful with what you are reading and believing.Although social media is a great way for people to learn alot of the time its all made up. So we have to be careful what were believing. I think social media is a great way for young adults to become more educated on whats going on in the world but we have to be careful on where these sources are coming from.

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  3. Do you defiantly agree, or definitely agree?

    One way to evaluate sources is to see who is paying the bills. If you're not paying to use Google or Facebook, then you're the product not the customer.

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  4. This topic has been very popular among our overall blog. I believe your approach was special in its own and does a good job connecting to the audience. You present the problem, provide facts, and explain your reasoning well to create a compelling argument. I really enjoyed the last section where you talk about snap chat individually and connect it with the presidential debate. This connection is definitely something the readership can relate to, discovering their was a debate without even trying. Social media has become a huge stepping stone in this presidential election, and you provide a really good argument here.

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