Social media in politics- Friend or Foe?
Social media was originally designed as a way to virtually connect and interact with friends and family, however, since its inception, social media and its capabilities has grown significantly. (We will talk more about this later!) One of the capabilities of social media that has come about in recent years is the ability to combine social media and politics. This is being done from both the side of the politician and the side of the citizen. Here are a few examples of how social media is used in politics: advertisement, campaigning, fundraising, connecting with other like-minded party members, spreading political content and messages, politicians connecting with voters, learning more about your party and political leaders (I call this info at a swipe!) and more. Now the question is, is social media in politics a good or bad thing?
Let's talk about it down below! 👇
The Impact social media has on politics is a complex topic because there are various factors and perspectives. I think one of the biggest arguments against social media is the mass polarization being seen today that leaves little to no room for conversation. Because platforms have become so polarized it's easy for groups on twitter, reddit, and other platforms to quickly gain a mob mentality. Therefore it's easy to spread false or misleading information with the possibility of it becoming widespread fake news that can wrongly influence the public. On the contrary many are for the use of social media within politics. It's an easy access tool for politicians to directly communicate with the public by sharing policy positions or viewpoints. This also creates the ability to gain direct feedback from the public. On the other hand it opens the world up for political engagement and participation allowing groups to voice their concerns by informing and making people aware of current issues. I think the most important thing to acknowledge is that social media usage in the realm of politics comes with both positive and negative aspects, by becoming aware of this we can potentially find a solution to better it.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to Dhamar, social media's impact is certainly a challenging topic as it has its positive and negative effects. Within social media, people often feel comfort in the idea that social media serves as a platform to be able to freely express ones opinions. Although this conclusion is true, it is always important to be careful in the use of words and expressions, especially in the world of politics. Negative examples can be the way former president Donald Trump used his twitter to spread false information, which angered his supported. These events essentially led to the January 6th riot. However, we also see positive uses of social media. For example, advocates using it to spread awarenesses to issues affecting society. Personally, TikTok has served as a great space for me to become aware of ongoing issues and news. Therefore, I believe that social media can serve both as a friend and foe.
ReplyDeleteTo echo the spirit of John Stuart Mill, even false claims hold value. Social media is the wild west in terms of human interaction; due to the nature of social media being rooted in abstract and impersonal communications, it is often hard for people to distinguish between what is valuable or invaluable on social media. Put simply, people fall victim to misinformation. However, social media is simply a manifestation of the reality surrounding how information spreads. That is to say that the spread of misinformation is not unique to social media. For that reason, I do not see social media as particularly bad for politics. In fact, given the republic in which we live, I would go so far as to say that social media is an absolute positive. Allowing people greater platform to share their thoughts, make claims, or have debate is helpful for building a moderate and high-functioning society.
ReplyDeleteDid you think when Facebook first came out that it would have such a huge impact on our political lives and beliefs? I sure didn't, in fact I thought it would always be a place for fun, games and photos . Remember the walls from Facebook, or 'poking' people. That is a now a thing of the past and its all about getting the 'news' to as many people as possible from as many 'sources' as possible. I put news and sources in quotes because the news can be fake or un-vetted and sources because anyone that shares a story is listed as a source. Older people that constantly share things they see on Facebook can really muddy the water when it comes to finding out if something is true or not, and those that have heard anyone say "Well I saw it on Facebook so it must be true" must make you as crazy as it makes me.
ReplyDelete