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mdadigitalcommunities · 2 years

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Social media and politics? Is it relevant to each other?

Since the days of Barack Obama, the use of social media in politics, either it be for political campaigns to promote candidates or for the spread of politcal news and propaganda, has become an increasingly popular tool for politicians to spread their message. So how exactly is it connected, and what caused the traditional way of campaigning to shift and adapt a relatively informal way of communication.

Image Taken From The Constant Revolution

Image Taken From SocialMediaAndPolitics.Org

Origin of the Debate

The debate as to how the two are connected originated back in the 1990s by scholars who questioned the influence of the interactive potential of the internet. The research yielded that in terms of politics, the birth of the internet could provide politicians with the opportunity for direct democracy. Although it was theoretical at the time, evidence today in the form of twitter posts demonstrates the direct communication of candidates with their voters or even individuals who might hold an opposing view (Calderaro 2018).

Why The Shift?

The shift had to happen, after all it is embedded in history itself. Politicians, American ones in particular, are known to use the media tools available in their time to best connect with the nation. Infact, Ben Franklin employed the use of pamphlets, Frankin Delano Roosevelt communicated through radio, and John F. Kennedy was the one of the first presidents to use the television as a way of reaching to a larger number of people (Lartaud 2020).

Image Taken From ImgFlip

The utilisation of social media platforms around the entire world is not a coincidence. The reasoning lies in the simple fact that it connects the people with their representatives. This is best explained by a piece for the Globe Post where the authors state that politicians today have never been more accessible to the public (Yildirim, Petrova & Sen 2020). Not only does this point out the ease of communication, but as well as the absence of the need for fundraising and connections to influential donors.

Platforms such as Twitter have now become a hotzone for people to share and receive information about current events and news as well as learn about the opinions of influential individuals about hot topics. Often, representatives use this to furher their own agenda to benefit their position in the government.

Image Taken From Wikipedia

The Good And The Bad

Politicians are not angels, thus bringing up all the bad that this form of media can cause. From bots which stir up divide among the different sides of the political parties, to echo chambers designed to create cult-like followings where the followers tend to agree with each other instead of engaing in thoughful discussion. On top of that, underhanded tactics combined with low tier discourse is often used by politicians, such as Donald Trump, resulting in the disunity of the nation itself (Bromfield 2018).

Image Taken From CNN

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The Video Is Addresses The Tweet Posted By Trump After Biden’s Win

Reference List

Bromfield, S 2018, “Uloop: Student Housing, College Jobs, Tutors, Roommates, and More,” www.uloop.com, viewed 7 November, 2021, <https://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/263903/Pros-amp-Cons-of-Social-Media-in-Politics>.

Calderaro, A 2018, “Social Media and Politics.”

Lartaud, D 2020, “How (and WHY) Politicians Use Social Media | KQED Education,” KQED, viewed <https://www.kqed.org/education/534692/how-and-why-politicians-use-social-media>.

Yildirim, P, Petrova, M & Sen, A 2020, “Social Media, Electoral Dynamics, and ‘Incumbency Advantage’ in the US,” The Globe Post, viewed <https://theglobepost.com/2020/07/24/social-media-politicians/>.

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therealchangeandgrow · 3 years

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I drove over to my daughter Sam’s place and found her outside watching the horses having fun in the pasture. “Dad, I guess you’re mad about me borrowing your time machine, but I just had to!” She explained when Ted Cruz became president in 2016 and nationalized all US businesses, gave half the US Treasury to the rich who funded his campaign, and then the world economy went into a global depression, well I had to do something! Confused I said, “That blowhard Ted Cruz was president?” “Yep, so I went back to 2015 and changed some things. I thought if the worst and most unlikely person won the primary election they’d lose the election, and maybe the financial meltdown wouldn’t happen, so I picked the biggest loser!” Sam looked so sad I couldn’t stay mad at her. Ordinarily she isn’t politically oriented. “Dad, he had failed marriages, ran his businesses into bankruptcy, ripped off working people by not paying bills, scammed others, sex cheating scandals, a real ass...Dad, how could people vote for such a failure?” I said, “Sam, no one could know he’d be so incompetent and screwup the pandemic response! Making business deals and getting product (vaccines and checks) out the door is easy for a real “business man,” but he couldn’t even get that right.” Sam looked down and started knocking her boot against the heal of her other boot. As a kid she did this when something bothered her. “Dad, there’s more. I did something in Paris. You’re not going to like it.” [Music: iMovie audio library, Springtime by Dave Babko. Video by Kate] #horsesofinstagram #springtime #timetravel #storytime #writersofinstagram #writer #changingtime #badpoliticians #changeandgrow https://www.instagram.com/p/CNkTvEIp28h/?igshid=106kfbk845ml0

#horsesofinstagram #springtime #timetravel #storytime #writersofinstagram #writer #changingtime #badpoliticians #changeandgrow

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