It’s not an understatement to say that since its conception, social media has irreversibly changed the nature of presidential campaigns. The first instance of such strategy was demonstrated in 2008, with Obama and McCain both effectively utilizing platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to engage with a broader demographic, particularly the younger voters with the proclivity to use such platforms. However, in the eight years leading up to 2016’s election, social media had contorted itself from such roots and grown into a prolific beast. Far more than just a greater audience, social media had gained a certain propensity for misinformation, propaganda, and targetted advertising. In light of such developments and advancements in the digital space, …show more content…
Utilizing Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, and the now defunct MySpace, Obama was capable of engaging with and updating his supporters far more than any candidate had before. Furthermore, he was able to utilize it for fundraising, organizing events, and engaging with younger voters, tactics that also followed into the 2016 election, the last of which being the most unique to social media. With younger voters already familiar with the platforms used, the 2008 campaigns were tapping into a far greater demographic than they would’ve been able to with the tools of previous generations. Entering 2016, the digital space had evolved greatly since 2008. Social media had become far more integrated into society by then, with the user bases of Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube expanding greatly. The potential of social media, then, had grown exponentially since 2008, when it already could’ve been considered a …show more content…
Certainly, to someone who’s used to the way social media can embellish and deceive, a less seasoned user would be less inclined to question information more likely to accept it at face value. To examine how these tools can be used in action, we can look at one of the most egregious examples in recent history: the Insurrection. We start at the lie, the idea that the election was stolen. With social media as a megaphone, this message was broadcasted to hundreds of thousands, from which followers would spread the message on their own. Moreover, extremist ideologies were also being parroted and amplified at the time leading to echo chambers, reinforcing ideas of violence and “protest”. From there, we reach coordination and organization. With social media as a medium, the logistics of the “Stop the Steal” rally were easily formed. In addition to the rally, targets and strategies were also discussed. Ultimately, this escalated into the Insurrection itself, the impact of which was also amplified by social media, with livestreaming, photos, videos, etc. of the event all being a click away, causing the event to be considered nothing less than a terrorist
The special characteristic of the activism associated with social media is that it can “[make] it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have any impact”
Mentioned in his article, social media has no form or organization that is controlled or regulated there is no real sense of authority, and nothing truly gets done like it did with the
Malcolm Gladwell’s article, “Small Change” describes the structural differences between social media and traditional activist movements. But is this structural difference enough to call this shift in activism revolutionary? Throughout the entire article, Gladwell emphasizes the word that the students who joined the sit-ins across the South during the winter of 1960 describes the movement as a ‘fever’” (Gladwell). This term is important in unpacking whether or not the structural differences really were revolutionary.
Social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook act as a vehicle for mobilization and change. Activists can garner support from a myriad of sources, many of which can participate nearly anywhere with access to social media. Through hashtags on Twitter, people expressed their opinions regarding Ferguson and brought international spotlight on the case. Furthermore, the use of Twitter during the Boston Bombing itself revolutionized the way news is gathered and processed, as thousands of users on Twitter tweeted about the events in real time. Thus, social media increases political participation and fosters a more interconnected and involved civil society
Social media has changed a lot of people communication within a American society. Before social media came out there was a few ways of communicating. Now social media is making it hard for people to learn how to talk. Back before that way social media people used to have to talk to each other in order to communicate. Social media have taken over the social life of people.
It was published in 2013. The study seeks to examine the role of social media in protest behavior and the factors that drive individuals to participate in such behavior. The author proposes a theoretical idea that suggests that information acquisition, opinion expression, and activism are three key motivations for using social media for protest behavior. The author concludes that social media is an important tool for protest behavior and that the role of social media in protest behavior is influenced by individuals' motivations for using it. Studies revealed that there is a strong relationship between social media and social movements.
In the essay by Malcolm Gladwell, called “Small change: why the revolution will not be tweeted.” It was a very informative insight on how activism has changed throughout the years. Gladwell set up his examples thoroughly. He explained the way networking took a big part to construct protests or sit ins back in the 1960s. Unlike in current times, we are able to spread the word through social media.
There is a general belief among social media detractors that this form of communication is dehumanizing. People who spend all of their time updating their social media platforms with 140 characters of thought will fail to recognize the nuance of a real issue. It is common for a person with a potentially controversial stance to be completely dehumanized by social media lynch mobs, who do not care about the nuances of his message, rather, simply want his/her life destroyed for daring to oppose the mainstream narrative. Whether the goals of this opposition are good or bad, their message is often contained within a social media bubble where the nuances are completely missed. This leads to arguments on social media that completely miss people’s real points and instead engage in fallacious arguments that wander off topic (Miller,
These people do not realize the prevalence of an even greater form of literature. That form of literature is social media. In recent years, social media has quickly become one of the most powerful platforms on the planet for marketing, networking and social connection. In his Anchor article, author Jack Wolff describes the impact of social media on politics when he states, “It is indeed one of the best ways to get ideas out to a large amount of people in an incredibly short period of time. As a result some people in the government have become incredibly proficient, and even proliferous in their use of social media” (Wolff).
In the essay ‘Small changes: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted’ Malcolm Gladwell claims that social media doesn’t have a function when it comes to any Revolutionary movement or activism, since it forms a weak reflection among people; And the way people do activism. Gladwell point out his idea of social media ineffectiveness by giving several cases from the Civil Right Movement to show that social media didn’t exist, claiming that it neither wasn’t needed. By providing information of a past event when Four black student did a sit in; at Greensboro, North Carolina the beginning of one large act of activism outnumber from four to eight hundred, going throughout the south and west Texas. This example shows that social media was not needed to spread-out the information of this
In Iran, during protest upon a rigged election, the Farsi version of Twitter had yet to have been released and the government effectively had shut down the internet in major cities, which then point to the tweeting to have originated from the West from English-speakers. Rather than just not truly understand or being there to have seen what occurred, their actions actually allowed the government to hunt opposition leaders through photos that had been posted after protest had died down. Though social media made it easier “for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns” (Gladwell 171), in this case, there was no difference, no “true” activism to be seen, and only furthered oppression. This is not to say social media is cannot help progress change. They can, yet they help facilitate it, not drive it.
In this era of information explosion, people can find almost any information they want on the Internet, but at the same time, this information also unknowingly affects our thoughts and behaviors. Social media, as the most popular trend, is one of the typical examples. They affect our fashion aesthetics, cultural thoughts, and even political behaviors to certain degrees. One thing that really stands out to me is how Twitter affected the 2016 United States presidential election and this is also the first time I realized the power of social media.
In today’s society, social media platforms engage their users and are able to manipulate them by making social media use the reality, influencing people to be bolder and more outgoing, and sharing
In 2012, Barack Obama and his opponent Romney had used several social media platforms, including Spotify, Pinterest and Instagram. Although many users expressed their annoyance about the campaign advertisement, the figures never lie: Barack Obama’s Facebook page had attracted over 30 million likes since his time as a presidential nominee (Lee). In 2008, President Obama’s campaign was also praised for its innovative use of social media to engage young voters. According to a survey by Pew Research, 39% of American adults have used social media to do at least one of eight political or civic activities and younger users are more likely to post their thoughts on politics than those who were 50 and older (Computer Business Review). Therefore, social media helps
Social media was developed to link people to the world and is an effortlessly convenient method for communication. Due to this, people are able to get in touch with just about anyone from all over the world and it no doubt has an incredible amount of influence on our lives. However, not all of it may be positive. Almost everyone is aware of how social media impacts us on a micro scale, but what about the influence it has on a macro level? Interestingly enough, it has taken a tremendous toll on politics.