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Social Media- Good or Bad for the Future of Politics?

Posted on by wwoodring

By Will Woodring

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the jobs of representatives have changed to adapt to the new challenges of governing. This change affects both their campaigning and their lawmaking. It has also led to an increased importance of social media use by those elected to political office. While the use of social media isn’t new, it is now one of the main forms of communication between constituents and their representatives. This has caused an even greater partisan divide in the United States. The divide starts with politicians, but trickles down to their constituents. 

It is now common for politicians to make decisions to gain popularity and excite their bases. An example of this is Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up her copy of the state of the union address (The Guardian). This move was purely to “Rile up her base” as reported by CNN, but the video quickly gained attention on social media. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has also been an increase in partisanship. According to the Pew Research Center, the partisan divide has become even greater due to issues relating to the coronavirus. Democrats and Republicans disagree on the need for additional stimulus packages as well as many other important issues. 

Part of this partisanship may come from increased social media use by politicians. As most teenagers and young adults know, the posts that gain popularity on websites like twitter are typically short, funny, and typically comment on another person. These quick zingers may be entertaining, but are harmful in politics.

 

Political Hobbyism

Social media could potentially create an atmosphere where people believe they are helping contribute to a political cause without actually doing anything. Tufts University Professor Eitan Hersh refers to this concept as ‘Political Hobbyism.” (The Atlantic). This is the belief by mainly white, college educated liberals, that by reading the newspaper, signing petitions, posting on social media, and occasionally donating, that they are deeply involved in politics. This is a result of the increased use of social media by politicians to get the attention of this demographic. 

An Increase in Social Media Use

The Pew Research Center confirms that both democrats and republicans are using social media, specifically twitter, more than ever before. While this is a good way to communicate with constituents, it also creates a new dynamic to communicating.

I interviewed Mark Lannigan, who formerly managed a state representative campaign and currently works for a congressional campaign. He said that as a result of the pandemic, campaigns have had to adjust their strategy to target voters over digital platforms instead of traditional means, such as knocking on doors. Campaigns have had to focus on social media much more than usual.

In a video interview with Politico, Democratic Party Chair Tom Perez reported that the DNC had trained 7,000 volunteers in digital organizing. RNC Chair Ronna Mcdaniels pointed to a similar shift to digital strategy on the republican side of things. This shift to digital politics during COVID-19 signifies an important change in campaigning: It is now possible to run a campaign without contacting voters in person. Knocking on doors used to be a vital part of running for office, but it is now possible to win without doing this.

David Helfert discusses social media in his book, Political Communications in Action. The first campaign to use the internet as a campaigning tool was Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992. Since then, it has played an increasingly important role in the political communicator’s toolbox. 

 In the 2016 election, Donald Trump’s twitter earned him $5.2 billion on earned media. His now infamous use of nicknames for other politicians made for entertaining news stories. These kinds of antics earned special attention from the media, which helped to push him to the front of the republican primary, and later helped him win the general election (Helfert).

While social media makes politicians more approachable, it is also important to make sure we focus on what our elected officials are doing and not just what they are posting. It is important to not only be informed, but to be involved in the political process. Take a second and ask yourself, is your political involvement symbolic, or is it really making a difference. If you can, do some research on local political organizations and join ones that fit your interests. Especially now, it is vital that we all take the time to get involved and make sure our ideas are heard.

 

Works Cited

“DNC Chair Tom Perez on Changing Strategies in the 2020 Election: C-SPAN Classroom.” C, www.c-span.org/classroom/document/?10705. 

Hersh, Eitan. “College-Educated Voters Are Ruining American Politics.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 20 Jan. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/political-hobbyists-are-ruining-politics/605212/.

Guardian News, “Nancy Pelosi appears to prepare in advance to rip up Trump’s speech,” Youtube, 6 Febuary 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LueAAY1no9Y

Helfert, David L. Political Communications in Action, from Theory to Practice. Boulder, Colorado. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2018.

Kessel, Patrick van, et al. “How Congress Uses Facebook and Twitter.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 27 July 2020, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/16/congress-soars-to-new-heights-on-social-media/. 

Lannigan, Mark. Personal Interview. 6, August, 2020.

“RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel on Adjusting Campaign Strategies after the Coronavirus Outbreak: C-SPAN Classroom.” C, www.c-span.org/classroom/document/?10794. 

“Republicans, Democrats Move Even Further Apart in Coronavirus Concerns.” Pew Research Center – U.S. Politics & Policy, Pew Research Center, 27 July 2020, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/06/25/republicans-democrats-move-even-further-apart-in-coronavirus-concerns/. 

Stelter, Brian. “Nancy Pelosi Ripping Donald Trump’s Speech May Not Have Been Planned, but It Was Effective.” CNN, Cable News Network, 5 Feb. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/media/nancy-pelosi-speech-rip/index.html.

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  1. I definitely think that politics and social media and money have gotten out of hand recently. Every social media app on your phone has the ability to see what you do on the internet and suggest things you would like based on that. However, when it comes to politics, it doesn’t seem to be the people that I follow who ads come up the most or even the people who I look up the most, it’s the politicians and political adjacent people that buy the most ad space. The media definitely puts the most attention on the people who pay.

  2. The post overall was well written and gave good information on a specific topic. You make a good point in how social media could potentially give people a false sense that by retweeting something they are helping the greater cause while they are only really spreading it to their small circle. I also had not realized how many political ads had been on my social media feeds. This post made me not only pay attention to the posts more, but think of why they are there and who they are trying to target in the ads. I liked how at the end you asked the reader to reflect upon how they are involved in politics and encouraged them to do research.

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