Social media and Politics
We all remember the times when we came to know about any news via TV or newspapers. But the situation has drastically changed in the last couple of decades. The internet has played a large role in this transformation. Social media is now a serious factor in political campaigns and can easily shape the public opinion about different issues.
Years ago the media included several different outlets through which people could receive information on politics, such as radio, television, advertising and mailings.
When campaigning, politicians spent large quantities of money on media to reach voters, concentrating on people who were undecided.
Politicians always used television commercials, advertisements or mailings to point out negative qualities in their opponents that became even easier now in the age of new social communication aids
There are much more advantages of using the new social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube that have no control and reach the greater audience.
So nowadays social media has dramatically changed the way campaigns are run and the possibilities allowing Americans interact with their elected officials.
The main difference between past and present influence of social media is direct contact with voters.
Then, if in past years politicians had to pay for their campaigns advertising using newspapers, radio and TV now they do it for free raising large amounts of cash in short period of time, pressing their supporters to donate money. They use Twitter and Facebook to get the word out and manipulate people’s minds tying these funds to specific controversies that emerge during campaigns. And they don’t have to pay for extremely expensive air time on radio or TV.
Politicians work with well trained analytics to find out who follow them on different internet sites and customize the messages to audiences, according to professional advices, depending of followers age for example. They distribute their messages concentrating more on the undecided voters based on selected demographics.
The media can also influence politics by deciding what news the public needs to hear choosing the stories that are the most important and the most sensational for the public to hear.
Though direct access to voters also has its down sides.
A politician may send out unfiltered tweets or Facebook posts and it can put him in embarrassing situations. We all know several examples of this unwise behavior.
The interactive communication of politicians with the voters can be good or bad depending on a politician skills. Well run modern day campaigns will engage the public regardless of whether their feedback is negative or positive. The instant respond to any politician acting can be weighed and analyzed. Politicians can then adjust their campaigns accordingly, in real time, without the use of high-priced consultants or expensive polling.
Another good thing about communication using social media and making it effective is that it engages younger voters. They thing it’s cool, that they can express their thoughts and feelings and make a difference in their country. Typically, older Americans tend to make up the largest portion of voters who actually go to the polls. But Twitter and Facebook have energized young people to participate.
And one of the most important things about social media and politics is the power of many. Social media tools have allowed Americans to easily join together to petition the government and their elected officials, leveraging their numbers against the influence of powerful lobbyists and monied special interests. But power of social media allows like-minded citizens to join together in ways that will be just as powerful.
The first American president who understood the great value of social media and took advantage of its unlimited possibilities was Barca Obama that helped him a lot in his successful political career during the last eight years.
So we should not underestimate the new generation of the social media and its influence on politics.
References:
By Tom Murse
US Political Expert
https://blog.sysomos.com/2016/10/05/social-media-affects-politics/
NiemanLab
Nieman Foundation at Harvard
Author: Anna Levinovsky
OBA Fall2016 Dec 21
What’s the difference between journalism and blogging?
What’s the difference between journalism and blogging?
At first sight blogging and journalism look very similar, but in real life there a lot of basic differences between these concepts.
If we try to understand a difference, let’s begin with the definition of each activity.
According to Merriem-Webster definition of journalism it is:
1
a : the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media
b : the public press
c : an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium
2
a : writing designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine
b : writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation
c : writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest
As for blogging, a blog is a type of website which has entries appearing in chronological order just like a diary or journal.
– A blog is typically updated frequently and regularly
– Blogs have an area for people to comment or respond to the blog post.
– Blogs may also have other areas of content and links to other websites.
– Blogs can have individual authors or be a collection of authors.
– Blogs have a history or an archive of previous blog posts.
– A blog is a collection of content that is organized repetitively. This content can take the form of basic words (copy) as well as rich media (audio, video, and embeddable objects).
– A blog typically focuses on a particular subject matter
– A blog can be built by hand, manually through writing the post, uploading to a website and then publishing.
– A blog can also be managed by software, sometimes called a CMS (Content Management System), where a lot of the features are automatically created and populated.
– A blog typically can be read in a number of different formats including the homepage, single post page, categories, tags, and other technologies.
– Readers and visitors can subscribe to the blog so that they can consume the content in a variety of different means, tools, devices, and applications.
– A blog today could take the form of microblogging (like Twitter for example), video blogging and more which can focus on a particular type of content or technology.
So, we realize that a blogger has no real boundaries and he doesn’t care about the strict definition of his activities.
A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from expressing your political views and changing the world to sharing your shopping list and your cat’s pictures. People will use it however they wish.
So we can say that blogging is a means of sharing information and also of interacting. It is more about conversation than content.
Blogs are whatever they want to be, whatever we make them.
Sometimes it looks like there is no difference between a blogger and a journalist, sometimes there is a significant difference.
A fundamental difference is the following: bloggers are of the internet by definition. Journalists may work online, but their role is not defined by any particular medium, whether it is digital or traditional (TV, radio, magazine, newspaper).
If you’re a journalists, then you always writes articles with specific word counts and also writes according to the some rules and regulations.
Blogging is an open-ended process , so in this process, you’re able to write articles according to your needs which covers the topic of your blog posts for your readers.
Another key aspect of differences is that from traditional point of view bloggers are regarded as unreliable, non-authoritative sources of information when journalists are considered to be reliable and authoritative and people should go to journalists to stay informed as traditional news outlets.
Though the situation can be very different nowadays.
Sometimes bloggers diligently investigate and reporte news stories that had been ignored and eventually make them to mainstream news outlets, while professional journalists report unverified, unreliable and false stories as fact.
Besides, bloggers may be subject-area experts with deep professional training, experience and knowledge in their respective fields, be it about technology, fashion and lifestyle, food, travel, beauty etc. of a topic that is often greater than of a journalist (or they may not be).
Besides bloggers also are very passionate about that topic in which they blog, whereas journalists are turned into experts in particular fields with the help of extensive training.
Though they tend to offer their opinion and analysis that links to news stories reported by mainstream media.
Professional journalists may also be domain experts with extensive training and experience, but are more likely tend to gather and report facts and opinions from expert sources they interview.
A journalistic process usually requires finding a fact, and then determining the veracity of the fact by verifying it with multiple sources before reporting and attributing it.
Blogging has no such requirement or expectation. All a blogger needs is a blog, primarily defined by format- WEB page or a site comprised of a series of posts that appear in reverse chronological order, which may include links, multimedia content and a place for readers to comment.
Lately a lot of journalists take up blogging for some purposes like report observations on the fly, share story-behind-the-store facts; adopt a more casual voice than a traditional new reports allow; add context to a story by linking and commenting on other material found online, etc.
So, while all journalists may be bloggers, not all bloggers may be journalists. But of course it doesn’t mean that a bloggers can’t become a professional journalist.
Journalism is purely a profession, but blogging may or may not be someone’s profession. Rather, he may have chosen to spend his leisure time writing about something he loves.
Another aspect of journalism vs blogging.
A blogger has a close and personal relationship with readers. In contrast, a journalist operates on behalf of an organization, so it is to some degree an “us-to-the-public” relationship. As a reader, you can feel the difference.
So far the discussion has focused on the trustworthiness of sources and professional integrity rather than the needs and wishes of the readers for whom media is supposed to serve.
Readers are skeptical, as they should be. Whether you are a journalist, a blogger you must earn the trust of the reader. By the way, both bloggers and journalists can learn a lot from each other about how to do that effectively.
Talking about trust, it seems to me that the same rules of credibility should apply equally to both bloggers and journalists.
The fact is that sometimes the most reliable and trustworthy sources of information We found are individual bloggers who have put their personal reputation on the line. Still, it’s not that easy to find them.
When you write any type of contents whether as a blogger or as a journalist, it is very essential for you to keep the audience in mind. In audience targeting, bloggers and journalists both have different end goals. When you write article on news basis, readers are broadly read it on that time, because news is hold only for specific time , but if you write articles on your blogs, the audience will be differ. Because your readers reads your article of the time of publication and later too.
Timing in both journalism and blogging is a essential thing for being a successful in any field. As a journalists , you can write article on time, because if only one second you late, you will not be ranked and your readers will be gone away to other place. Because every single day millions of articles are published on daily basis both in blogging and journalism.
So in conclusion the main difference between blogging and journalism looks like this:
– Bloggers appeal to emotions – journalists appeal to facts
– Bloggers can write anywhere any time they want, journalists have to be present at the events, meet people, conduct interviews
– Bloggers can be of any profession, while journalists get professional education
– Blogging can be a primary source of income or just a hobby, journalists write to earn
– Blogging more subjective and personal, journalism – objective, without personal opinion
– Blogger creates different type of content, journalist works with one type of content
– Bloggers have more freedom with guidelines, more flexible with timelines and language (can use slang, short incomplete sentences and phrases)
1st Blog Post
Important problem which can be solved via social media
Thanks to Social Media, in a past couple of years I became a member and a supporter of the one non-profit organization which makes huge positive difference in the world we live in. If you are a pet lover or just a person with a good heart, there is no way that this story will not put a smile on your face. Furthermore, I hope that you too, will become a supporter, adopter or volunteer. Here is the link to their site. Please like, share, get involved.
https://www.facebook.com/AmaAnimalRescue/
AMA animal rescue group is a non-profit organization which rescues abandoned animals – sick cats and dogs, uses fundraising to get funds to cover medical expenses for each and every animal and also to spread awareness and get those animals to foster homes and get them adopted.
Social media is a fantastic outlet to connect and unite likeminded people for a cause. AMA is utilizing Social Media to the fullest – they participate in marathons and raise money that way, they have picnics and invite new volunteers, they attract volunteers to their non-profit organization, and most importantly they save animals life, by first rescuing them, then providing often vital emergency medical care as well as routine care like vaccines, grooming, and neutering and spraying, then at the end they find placement for each and every pet, making it a happy ending for all.
They often post before and after images when they are raising money and the social media allows reaching wide audience of supporters. The also show case pets available for adoption. It is nice to see a journey of every pet from hopeless abandoned sick and neglected to a healthy thriving and loved kitty or doggy with a loving human and a home.
I really like that AMA uses images to the fullest to tell the many stories of love and redemption. They also have consistent presence on Facebook. Every day they post something about the rescued animals. This keeps the supporters and followers in the loop of what’s going on and how they can help. There are many ways to help to volunteer time and skills, as well as donating money for medical bills from the animal hospital.
The organization was founded by college age two best friends who had it in their heart to help safe animals’ lives. The organization grew rapidly and attracted many volunteers, mostly young professionals and students who are involved in making these little miracles every single day.
Earlier this year they even saved a bunny and a rooster which were transferred to a no kill farm upstate New York. There are so many sad situations which these girls turn into happy ones that it is both inspiring and touching.
It is also amazing to see how these young women found their purpose and passion and in-spite of other responsibilities they dedicate so much personal time to this amazing cause.
In case you want to learn more about the organization or feel like this might be something that you want to get involved in, please click the link bellow to see how this one group uses social media to solve this one problem and by doing so making the world we live in a better place.