Social Media and Politics

Social media is ablaze with all the social commentary from the left side, the right side, and the totally wrong side.  I don’t think I have seen this many videos shared on my social feed… ever.  This political stage is causing a divide among the people of this great nation.  But I’m hopeful that we will come through with a better understanding of other point of views. 

Who are we to determine what one another should feel, want or expect.  This is a democratic nation and as such we need to accept the democratic electoral vote.  We all had the opportunity to vote.  This means that we failed each other, depending on the side your on… In every contest there has to be a winner and a loser… there is no exception to the rule or in this case a draw. 

There was a spoof recently on my news feed on Facebook that showed the uncanny similarities of the Republican party’s reaction to President Obama being elected into office in 2008.  While we the democratic party are not as racially outspoken today as the Republican party then, it is again their American right to freedom of speech.  Yet why can’t they understand and accept our legal freedoms to march and protest peacefully?

With that said, I am going to take a moment to discuss the democratic party.  We took for granted that the party’s divide over our then potential nominees.  I myself will say that I was not pleased with either candidate but I did vote.  Did you?  There is that commentary that voters couldn’t get behind a woman being president, but if we accept that rhetoric then we are saying, we are okay with placing power in the hands of narcissist.  Well history has a way of repeating itself, in the olden days there was a voting process and as the biblical story goes, the general public had a choice to save the life of one criminal.  The crowd choose a thief over the messiah.  Now by no means am I putting Hilary Clinton on the same podium as my lord but I am drawing this reference to state that people don’t always make the right choices.  Well we all have to live with the country’s decision whether we, I, voted for him or not.  We just have to pray that the next four years under his rule that we do not become more divided as a nation.

So let us dissect the why and how we are here today.  With two political candidates to choose from, we cannot deny that the democratic process was indeed fair.  There has to be a balance … But all is never fair in love and war. 

In an article by Jeff Fromm a Forbes contributor, on the connection between social media, Millennials and politics, he noted a study from the American Press Institute, 69% of millennials get the news daily and 85% say that keeping up with the news is at least somewhat important to them.  So how are they staying informed?  Well the answer is social media, in the same study by The Millennial Impact Project, which is a new study conducted by Achieve research agency, millennials are posting on social media about the issues they cared about.  This means that the Alpha is telling others what they will do purely based on his or her views.  The study continued by stating social media has the potential to influence millennial voter in these two ways, through participatory politics and ongoing, real-time conversations.  With participatory politics everything happens on the social realm.  It is considered a new political movement where debates and discussion happen.  This would explain why politicians are investing nine percent or more of their media budget to digital and social media outreach.  For those that understand the importance of this platform they are able to win the minds of a large populous. 

In real time conversations, Twitter provides a more real-time interaction and is a stage for conversations and self-expression. After all, this is a generation that seeks the validation of their peers, it is almost an involuntary online movement of wanting to belong.  They are constantly begging the question, ‘what should I?’…in online conversations, removing the action of self-thinking. The Forbes article further discussed the study where 70% of millennials said they are more likely to do things if their friends agree with the idea and 68% rely on the people they trust to help them make major decisions.  On my Facebook and WhatsApp application, I was bombarded with videos, spoofs and funny comics about both political candidates.  In an NPR article by Sam Sanders, it speaks to how social media transformed the political campaign into a curbside brawl with a sexiness, “Social media may have played a role in creating a kind of scandal-driven, as opposed to issue-driven, campaign,” said Todd Grossman, CEO of Talkwalker Americas.  But scandal sells and it kept us glued to the updates… there were cliff hangers at every turn, we could wait to know what is going to happen next.

Knowing the value of social media truly was the key to reaching the minds and as such the people.  The Washington Post reported that the Trump campaign tapped the social media well as it seemed like it was the main way he communicated his message.  Many again, like myself who prefer social sites for updates have to mindful of the sublime messaging.  The post continued in the article that most of what is posted on social sites often come directly from reputable news outlets but it is being redistributed on personal posts with a disclaimer or introductory comment that could potential corrupt the viewer’s reaction to the reposted news.  I too used social forums to find out what was going on as the technology was right at my fingertips.  I mean, I don’t have time to read the newspaper in depth and I often miss the news like CNN on television, but I can surf my phone and cover more ground, theoretically speaking, and get my social news.

The platform and the idea of ‘Making America great again,’ has me very nervous.  That is an open-ended statement that could have positive or negative reactions for many.  It is almost as dangerous as giving a loaded firearm to the mentally disturbed.  We have already seen how the message is being heard by our young people, there are multiple news reports of students as young as middle schoolers engaged in spewing hate by chanting build the wall – referring to the wall to separate the US from Mexico – during a school assembly.  I couldn’t image how that felt for students of Mexican decent to endure mass bullying in a place where they should feel safe.

Forbes expressed my sentiment, “As we merge into the next four years, a new generation will be growing up and becoming voters. Although millennials are the hot topic of this election, Gen Zers are still expressing their interest in politics; with almost half agreeing that voting is important. Though many are still too young to vote, they are taking an interest in social issues at a younger age than many generations before them. Although they are divided on the state of healthcare and are concerned about the trustworthiness of elected officials, the majority believes that the American Dream is attainable.”

 As a nation I am concerned about the long-term effects on this generation as they grow and mature amongst this type of hate.  What is the lesson we are sending overall as we share these videos on social media and the news, without a disclaimer or explanation of what is right or wrong knowing there are young viewers out there.  We have provided a platform of negativity to the world at large and we need to be prepared to have many conversations about both sides this equation as many are affected.  We all know someone who is an immigrant, a woman or a Muslim.  Let’s choose to be kind first, on a soon to be former presidential campaign message, ‘Yes We Can!’

Reference:

Fromm, J. (2016, June 22). New Study Finds Social Media Shapes Millennial Political Involvement And Engagement. Retrieved November 18, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2016/06/22/new-study-finds-social-media-shapes-millennial-political-involvement-and-engagement/

Curry, Kevin. “More and More People Get Their News via Social Media. Is That Good or Bad?” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 Sept. 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Sanders, S. (2016, November 8). Did Social Media Ruin Election 2016? Retrieved November 18, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/500686320/did-social-media-ruin-election-2016

Sommerfeldt, Chris. “SEE IT: Michigan Middle School Students Chant ‘build the Wall’.” NY Daily News. N.p., 11 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Lepore, Jill. “The Party Crashers.” The New Yorker. N.p., 14 Feb. 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.