roles of social media on politics

roles of social media on politics

Social media is an online platform where people, commonly referred to as users share and get information. Examples of social media platforms may be twitter, facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Politics in the context of this essay may be defined as the activities that involve governance and the election of rulers to lead a country, state or region. Over the few past couples of decades, the face of politics has changed due to the significant effect of social media use by both candidates and voters. The following may form part of the roles of social media on politics;

Establishing of a candidate`s political identity

In the recent elections in the united states, we find that most election candidates established their interest in politics via announcement or posts on social media accounts, especially twitter. A good following may support you while some may not. An aspiring politician with a large number of following automatically has more chance of succeeding in unveiling his or her plot to join politics.  The whole idea is that they know that you are tossing yourself into the political arena. For example, former President Trump, who was recently impeached, was a great user of twitter using it as the main platform to announce his political interest in the presidency. According to the New York Times post (2019), president trump considered Twitter as the main political tool that helped him announce his want for the political post and also get him into the white house.

Creates social networks in campaigns and thus attracts voters

The old campaign strategies used by candidates and politicians that did not involve social media made campaigns difficult. However, with the improvement of technology and new social media platforms like Facebook, a candidate may post all his agendas and have direct feedback from the voters who form part of their supporters or criticizers. Therefore, with many options for making new friends on social media accounts like Facebook, the politicians and candidates can educate, inform and attract more voters during the campaigns using the created social link.

Targeting and demographics

In the advertising industry, targeting is a tool that is being used to ensure that messages and ads reach a specific audience. This is also the norm of politicians. Social media has allowed election candidates and politicians to target their prospective voters while campaigning. Candidates may tailor their messages to suit specific audiences say the concerns of college students, Latinos or women and post them to groups on Facebook or even WhatsApp that specifically have people who are affected by the truth in the messages.

Fake News, Rumors and conspiracies

Every story posted and spread on the social media platforms influence political campaigns even though the story may be true or false. To separate fake news from actual news has become very difficult in the current society. The distinction between actual news and fake news has become more confusing due to social media influence. The constant spread of rumours, links and memes that involve election candidates and political leaders entails information that forms a combination of lies, speculation, truth and satire.

Allows for direct interaction with politicians

Social media platforms have a positive benefit to both the voters and the leaders they elect. This is because the social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter allow the voters to contact their leaders and communicate without any go-between directly. The benefit is that the politicians get to know the actual problems faced by the voters and address them a part of their campaign agendas while n the other hand the voters get to voice their concerns thus they understand the amenities and services offered by the politicians in return. Typically, for a voter to communicate to a leader, they were subjected to attend a live event, and the politician happens to be there. This was ineffective. With social media, one can stream a live event and listen or watch the politicians campaign without necessarily attending the event physically.

Impacts the election polls

Every campaign considers political polls as a very crucial part in elections. Most voters find the polls confusing due to the multiple contradicting results usually announced or posted daily during the election period. With the presence of the internet, results of political surveys have significantly increased, and they typically have a great influence on the elections. Facebook allows for polls to be done, thereby if a candidate has more friends and followers, he or she will have high votes and vice versa.

The confirmation bias power

On social media platforms, confirmation bias is amongst the unseen forces that operate while the users interact. Confirmation bias is usually more powerful when the topic being discussed is controversial and especially if it involves politicians. Social media platforms allow people of the same mindset to mingle and share ideas. Most users tend to interact with people they identify with, and thus they post almost the same purposes. Therefore, in political campaigns, social media platforms especially Facebook and Twitter make people or users who are of the same mindset to be more opinionated about specific politicians and their stories thereby being less accommodating to others who may differ or support their ideology during campaigns.

In conclusion, social media has become an essential part of political campaigns because the messages posted on the platforms by either the politicians, candidates or voters influence the outcome of the elections.