To discuss social media and its impact it had on the 2014 midterm election there should first be some information on the background of both what social media is and who were running during the election. Social media would be best described as websites and applications that will allow users to create and share content; surprisingly enough social media was recorded to having been created in the early 1950’s and were just home made devices around the size of a small box that could generate tones allowing people to make free calls and get access to the unknown back end of the telephone system. Though there was no significant sign that social media effected politics until the 2010 elections and even then not many people used it. A total of six democrats …show more content…
With technology being the main source of information for the younger generation it was only a matter of time before politicians jumped on the bandwagon to sway voters in their favor. Social media has been around for awhile and it was used in passed elections it never had the same rating as it did in 2014 were politicians and campaigns were creating Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, and other site pages to up themselves amongst the people. It has been averaged out that teenagers and young adults spend around twenty-seven hours a week on social media sites and during the midterm elections 28 percent of young Americans received candidate information from online sources, so it was seen that around seven hours and forty-five minutes or so were spent solely on the midterm election. Which is the most amount of time covered on social media involving the elections for example in 2010 the coverage and usage on social media sites for the midterm election then was 13 …show more content…
Which has brought this age bracket up to around 40 percent on the usage of mobile devices to keep up with election coverage. This has allowed the age gap between the 18-to-29-year-old voters (43 percent use mobile devices to follow up on the elections) and 30-to-49 to close significantly. When it comes down to which side used social media to follow the election between Republicans, Democrats, and Independent voters it has been proven that independent voters are more active on social media sites when compared to Republicans and Democrats. An estimated 32 percent of independent voters have used smart phones and other devices to keep up with election news during 2014’s midterm, compared to the 29 percent of Democrats and the 25 percent of Republicans. Which may not seem like a lot but compared to the 2010 midterm election where only 13 percent of independents reported using social media where as democrats and republicans each fell around the 14 percent of voters to use media
The purpose of this article is to persuade the reader that social media is the new alternative to mainstream big money ads for politicians. Cary’s intended audience is politicians, political campaign managers and politically engaged citizens. The tone of this article is informative but slightly opinionated. While Cary does back up her claims with notable quotes and statistics the main support for her argument is her professional opinion. Cary was formerly the
A great example of social media being used for politics is with the recent presidential campaigns. Social media began being used in presidential campaigns by President Barack Obama. Obama’s campaign in 2008 was considered the “Facebook election” since he used the social media platform Facebook to connect with the public. Now, mostly all presidential candidates use at least one social media
One of the properties that allow social media to be an attractive tool to use by politicians is the ability to attract a massive audience of users. The Pew Research Center suggests that there is a growing number of social media users. A whooping 73% of US adults use the internet (Social Networking Fact Sheet). These...
As stated by Tim Highfield “whereas in 2004 the Howard Dean campaign for the Democratic nomination for that year’s US Presidential election was a novelty in some regards for its internet strategy […], politicians and candidates having a social media presence is now more expected and mundane” (2016, p.123). With this is mind, the following essay will aim to describe and explain Dr. Kellie Leitch’s use of social media between April 20th, 2017 and April 23rd, 2017—just a little over a month before the Conservative party’s leadership race’s elections (Leblanc, & Stone, 2017). It will focus mainly on her choice of communication channels—with an emphasis on Facebook— as well as the key messages Leitch used. Communications Channel and Types of Messages
First, do representatives who have a greater social media presence spend less time overall in their districts than those who have a smaller or no social media footprint. Second, do the amount of news articles or television news reports reduces the amount of time a representative spends in their district. Third, do representatives who received smaller victory margins in their election spend allocate more resources to expanding their presence in the media. The ways in which a representative could expand their media presence may include increases in social media activity, increases to the promotion of their speeches and casework through social media, and giving interviews with media
The internet was first used to a limited extent during the 1992 election by the Clinton campaign using email, bulletin boards and discussion groups(Wagner, & Gainous, 2009). “The discussion group 'alt.politics.Clinton' received approximately 800 postings a day at the height of the campaign”(Wagner, & Gainous, 2009). The internet first became important in the 1996 election with each major candidate running for president created their own website(Johnson, Braima, & Sothirajah, 1999). These websites have changed from basic information sites “brochure-ware” to large-scale feedback based fund-raising enterprises(Trammell, Williams, Postelnicu, & Landreville, 2006). These changes have mirrored the advancement and sophistication of the internet itself. Much like the internet, online campaigning has moved from novelty to necessity; This is true at the national level as well as the local level. A Pew Research Center study showed that during the “2008 election 74% of internet users went online to take part in, or get news and information about the campaign, representing 55% of the entire adult population” (Smith 2009); This use is expected to grow into the future. This study used telephone interviews conducted November 20 to December 4, 2008 among a sample of 2,254 adults, 18 and older. The sample used a random digit sample from telephone exchanges in the continental United States.
Media played a large role in the recent election. Both candidates in the election reached out to voters through Twitter and other outlets. They gained popularity and power through social media because they could get people to think a certain way about one candidate and reach a large
The news media and social media affect and influence the political world. The political arena can now be easily accessed through every citizen’s smartphone screens and tablet screens. For instance, Barack Obama became the country’s most Instagrammer-in-Chief (Carr). Obama utilized social media to promote his climate agenda while on his trip to Alaska. He would snap pictures of the landscape and share the pictures on his social media accounts which earned him more than thousands of likes. The media and its political connections play a huge scene in this topic of influence. Since the election of 2008, Obama utilized Facebook to connect with the public (Carr). This year’s 2016 Presidential candidates have been using social media to connect with the public. The media interprets and impact discussions made by the public and its candidates, as well as polling and voting. Obama has paved the path since 2008 in using social media to connect with the public, and Obama has been a pacesetting in this year’s presidential candidates. For example, Senator Ted Cruz often appears on Periscope, Marco Rubio snap videos and pictures on Snapchat at stops along his
Though many have accepted what the outcome has been, there are a few people, like ourselves, who wanted to breakdown these social media statistics and research why many other candidates were not represented enough nor being advertised in our newsfeed except for the candidates we “favored.” And while most might become bias when it comes to social media and how it is involved in politics and presidential campaigns, Facebook has become the most highlighted website for audiences to keep up to date with candidates and their involvement as well as the leading website for false clickbait news. This literature review will uncover the truth behind seeing such advertisements on our Facebook pages and why we see what they want us to see and not what we
The need to embrace, understand and utilize social media has come from the top down, literally. President Obama won the election largely due to money raised from grassroots donations and by reaching people through social media. Additionally, the President signed the “Open Government Directive” which makes transparency in government a requirement on all levels. This directive has a handful of unprecedented benefits. For the first time ever, all federal agencies were required to have two way communication with citizens. Additionally, citizens could make suggestions, vote up or down others’ ideas, and have an active voice in government through Twitter or replying to blog posts which was previously seen as near impossible.
The main aim of this report is to analyze the impacts of changes in the media concerning the societal and individual view of politics and politicians. The report also describes significant milestones in mass media since the year 1960 and examines the impact of mass media on how people think politically. The report then considers the effect of technological advancements in mass media and the effect on the results of elections. The use of mass media has increased over the last fifty years in that it is a primary medium through which supporters of various campaigners share their ideas and views concerning politicians and different political parties. Through social media, behaviors and performance of several activists have brought
The researchers present findings that indicate that a politician’s popularity in the voting booth may be related to the frequency with which the candidate is talked about on social media. The researchers goes on to discuss how further research may conclude that social media has a bigger impact on voting outcomes than traditional forms of media, and how that could potentially shape the future of voting.
At one point, society started to see that instead of just watching the news, people were starting to rely on social media for the source of what is actually going on in the world. It felt more real and personal to interact with a social website on a device instead of having the information said to them by a news anchor. This was starting to become very apparent so slowly we started to see the political side of things integrate itself in to common social media outlets such as youtube and twitter ,so you can see how Facebook and Twitter are gearing towards more advertising for
The purpose of this essay is to develop a further understanding of the impacts of social media in regards to the political debate. By looking at the topic of social media and the use rhetoric in response to politics in the 21st century, a deeper understanding of the issue can be established. Social media has become a primary source for the discussion of politics by the average citizen; whether through the sharing of articles, “memes”, advertisements or personal expository statements. As a result, large sums of information and ideas are spread rapidly to a wide variety of subjects. However, much of this information may not be accurate and could be misinterpreted. Consequently potentially misinformed citizens may not be able to make a properly
Social media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Flicker, internet websites, and blogs are becoming mainstream attracting a younger more technology savvy voter. Many candidates in the last elections learned to use these mediums so not to overlook tech savvy voters and learned how to use these to their advantage. Candidates took to the internet to raise awareness, state views, and even successfully raised donations. Social media was able to provide instant feedback on the standing of a candidate often days or weeks sooner than a more traditional poll.