Social media and Politics
I'm going to be frank here that I avoid politics as much as possible, especially Malaysia (Don't even get me started on our country of so called "Multi-racial" country)
In recent years, the use of internet, as well as the creation and usage of social media, has tremendously expanded worldwide. In many aspects, the rise of social media has influenced politics in most countries. Social media was used by politicians to carry out their campaigns, and activists used it to raise awareness about political concerns and mobilising protests.
So, why was social media being used by so many politicians all over the world? It's because so much of our political debate takes place on social media.
The good, and the bad.
Okay, let me start of with the bad side of this topic because, good things comes last.
Just a quick research I have found, during the presidential election back in 2020, many Americans were already tired by the amount of political information they encounter on social media. According to Paw Research Center poll of U.S., 55 percent of adult social media users expressed that they feel 'burnt out' by the number of political postings and debates they see on social media.
Anyway-
The internet is an open and unrestricted medium that has allow anyone to express their opinions on politics. While there are people who have grown in their understandings of tolerance and multiculturalism, they are also people who are the 'peekaboos'. One moment they can be at focused, next moment they decided to focus on something else. Because our attention span are shortening, we instantly want information, or we will just move on.
The most common issue about this topic is FAKE NEWS. Fake news, hate speech, and misinformation are just that convincing on social media that people just believe they have just read without even trying to read and compare with another source. Platforms like Twitter has become so popular for politicians to promote the election, just anything that is politics related (Ah yes, brings me back to the time when my Twitter timeline was full of tweets regarding about Trump aka Orange head's election). And we all know a certain someone decided to violently use Twitter.
Yes, you guessed it right. Mr Donald Trump. Now, that headline above is an old news about that orange head. I'm pretty sure we all know that his account was permanently suspended by Twitter themselves because of the way he violently used Twitter.
According to Twitter themselves, the context of broader events in the US must be read in those two tweets, and the way the duck’s words can be mobilised by various audiences of different age group, including promoting violence as well as his account’s recent history of activity. After Twitter had gone through and analyze the language he used, the decided to cancel him on Twitter (Ah, true comedy right there).
(Ah yes, he's definitely a dead clown walking.)
With fake news being the general issue of this topic, where is the good on social media in the world of politics?
Well, with today’s technology, internet has given a chance for those that are silenced to allow them to fully express their opinions. Obama’s election campaign is an example of importance of social media, and no one can forget that because the participation of the people was so active and supported him all the way. However, Obama’s campaign has cost about $50 million JUST on social media and even though it was so expensive, he still won the election back then.
Also, whatever information was uploaded minute by minute on social media, people get updated from it on their smartphones wherever they go. It’s like “DING!” and then instantly just pulls the phone out of the pocket.
In conclusion,
I personally believe that the usage of social media in the world of politics are good yet bad at the same time. Though it has helped the younger generation to like us to voice out, the use of social media to blame and criticise opposing parties is so widespread, and information is skewed by misleading and false data.
References:
Anderson, M & Auxier, B 2021, 55% of U.S. social media users say they are ‘worn out’ by political posts and discussions, viewed 15 October 2021, <https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/19/55-of-u-s-social-media-users-say-they-are-worn-out-by-political-posts-and-discussions/>
Barnhart, B 2021, Social media and politics: 10 best practices for campaigns to know, viewed 15 October 2021, < https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-political-campaigns/>
CareerRide 2014, The pros and cons of increasing role of social media and politics, viewed 15 October 2021, <https://www.careerride.com/view/increasing-role-of-social-media-in-politics-pros-and-cons-12947.aspx>
Hall, GB 2018, A breakdown of the negatives and positives of media in the political sphere, viewed 15 October 2021, <https://theobserver-qiaa.org/a-breakdown-of-the-negatives-and-positives-of-media-in-the-political-sphere>
Michigan State University 2020, The truth behind fake news and politics on social media, viewed 15 October 2021, <https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2020/the-truth-behind-fake-news-and-politics-on-social-media>
Twitter Inc. 2021, Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump, viewed 15 October 2021, <https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension>