The Digital Republic: Navigating Social Media's Influence on Republican Values Social media has changed the flow of information and created new ways of getting informed, discussing opinions, and misinforming. While it started as a means of communication between people, social media has become part of any individual's social life, if not more so than interacting in society itself: if social interaction used to happen through physical presence and discussions within society, it has become the opposite through social media, which has been replacing the traditional social interactions in society on all levels of human life, including communication and work. Another field where social media played a pivotal role in its evolution and organization …show more content…
Because republicanism takes a communitarian turn, it insists that "the common civic identity is primary over diverse and particular identities", emphasizing the importance of all citizens being "capable of self rule" and "of civic virtue and are obligated to cultivate it" (Patrick, 2017). This being said, the proper political functioning of a republic depends on the general will of its citizens, entailing that it is crucial for citizens to be politically active and able to practice civic virtue, with such principles dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic, which have ever since been significantly part of the political frameworks, which was seen during the French and American Revolution as well in the 18th century, where both "gave a prominent place (...) to the notion of rule of law - due process, natural justice, respect for rights - (...) it emphasized the importance of the republic's need for an electoral, contestatory democracy (...) in which any citizen would vote and stand for office (...) and where the people were expected to …show more content…
"Social media now provides individuals a low-cost means of sharing ideas as participants in citizen-centered communities" (Tran, 2013, p.400), enabling more transparent and open access to discussion and debates between citizens by interacting and sharing a post, allowing them to "critique and assess an unlimited variety of ideas and issues with expanding circles of communities" (Tran, 2013, p.401). In contrast to traditional media, where people have only been receivers of the information, with the emergence of social media, "people become spreaders of information and producers of political contents in a way that is much easier than in the past" (Calderaro, 2018, p.785). This allows a more democratic process of participating citizens in the political life of their nation-state, where they get to access the information while also circulating it and assessing it, in contrast to traditional media, which was solely transmitted from the government, increasing the chances of limiting people to propaganda and even autocratic practices. In parallel, social media encourages dialogue as well between the government and its citizens; for instance, "numerous government institutions, including administrative agencies, the White House, and the State Department, maintain Facebook pages, 3 Twitter accounts, 4 and blogs in which
In Nicholas Carr’s article “How Social Media Is Ruining Politics”, Carr writes about the effects that social media has on politics. In his article, Carr focuses more on the negative effect that social media has when it comes to politics. Some points that he makes about social media include specific examples like the recent presidential campaigns, how other technological advances over the years have effected politics, and the effectiveness that social media has on politics
Cary, Mary Kate. "5 Ways New Media Are Changing Politics." 4 Feburary 2010. U.S. News. 14 October 2015
In this paper, I consider the growing role of social media in presidential politics during the current era. The research questions the extent of the political impact of social media on the president and his communication with the public. It is necessary thus to examine the properties that make social media an attractive tool to use, the different ways the president interacts with social media, and both benefits and limitations of using social media as a platform for communication. As a result, it is essential to make conclusions regarding the nature of the relationship between social media and the presidential politics.
Presently, two hundred million users send upward of 140 million messages per day, 140-character musings studded with misspellings, slang, and abbreviations. Moreover, it includes harsh truths, memes and also lies. But it has become the most important public sphere for a global, inclusive audience. Therefore, social media sphere like twitter that has often been discredited or not valued as real public engagement has actually transformed itself into the most global, inclusive public sphere where the public is able to engage — whether truthfully or not — and to become more aware and reflective. The public informs the state and especially in a situation where the public is as polarized as in the case of the 2016 American elections, social media especially twitter can be a tool by which the public can still engage with each other to be better
In the excerpt titled “The Need for Virtue” from The American Revolution: A History by Gordon Wood, it gives a detailed description of the problems of going from a monarchy to a republic. It creates a basic standard of what a republic should be like as well as the citizens within it. For a republic to work, it needs to be fully complete by containing the three main principles. The principles are civic duties, independent citizen, and equality. With having these three principles of a republic it can create virtue that can sustain a government.
People, especially in democracies, need to be well informed of everything going on in their country in order to vote for ways to make it better. Social media gives citizens of democracies a better understanding of the events in their country and others because of social media’s unfiltered, raw
Technology today is more relied upon than ever before. If one needs to call someone half way around the world, simply take out a cell phone and dial their number. Within thirty seconds, one can be speaking to that person just as if two people were conversing face-to-face. In the same manner, one has access to endless knowledge and resources by the push of a few buttons or the click of a mouse. The use of social media today is becoming more prevalent than ever before because of the convenience it offers.
FBI stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation; a FBI specialists is a critical employment in law requirement in the United States. Made popular in incalculable TV programs and films, FBI agents are in charge of maintaining the law on a government level. The employment involves a lot of complex work in the field and in the workplace. There are a mixed bag of cases that an FBI agent can research or be assigned to, running from homicide to assessment misrepresentation, and considerably more. No two FBI cases are the same, and a specialist regularly has a strength.
Winograd, Morley, and Michael D. Hais. Millennial Makeover [electronic Resource] : MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2008. DiscoverE. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .
Now more than ever, people find themselves trapped in the midst of American politics because of the vast social media coverage. But what effect does social media have on American politics? One side argues that social media has opened up a vast world of information to better educate political parties and voters. Those on the other hand argue that the same vastness of information dilutes true political issues and can misinform potentially informed voters. The argument I present today suggests that the usage of social media in American politics today has created a larger divide between political ideologies, having the greatest influence on the most active social media users, Millenials and Gen Z. Since the creation of the U.S. political landscape,
Mass media were classically a buffer between the public and those with power and influence; however, social media has removed that buffer (Verdegem, D 'heer & Mechant, 2013). Part of social media’s importance is to allow a substantial amount of people to share information, much more so than was possible in the blogosphere (Bruns & Highfield, 2015). Both journalists and the public utilize social media as a method of sharing information and attempting to engage the audience (Bruns & Highfield, 2015). Social media further blurs the divisions between journalists and the public (Bruns & Highfield, 2015). In fact, social media to at least some degree puts everyone on relatively equal footing as it relates to sharing information, at least as it relates to the
Humankind always has struggled to achieve the ideal balance between the needs and desires of the individual and those of the community as a whole needed to solve societal problems. The representative form of democracy seen today has been the most effective attempt at finding this balance and solving the problems different societies face. The influences that developed this form, a republic, are found in ancient Greece and Rome, and were further developed later on during the rise of Judeo-Christian ideals and during the Enlightenment.
The revolution in information and communication technologies has been changing not only the daily lives of people but also the interactions between governments and citizens. The digital government or electronic government (e-government) has started as a new form of public organization that supports and redefines the existing and new information, communication and transaction-related interactions with stakeholders (e.g., citizens and businesses), especially through the Internet and Web technologies, with the purpose of improving government performance and processes (Bekkers & Hornsburg, 2005). Social media has become a central part of how people interact with friends, colleagues and communities.
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
From the words of United States President Barack Obama "Call your members of Congress. Write them an email. Tweet it using the hashtag #My2K." (Coffee). Social media has played an increasing and larger part in today's government. Social media has the power to influence elections and connect the people to the policy makers in new ways.