“The Good and the Bad: How Social Media Affected Me as a Gen Z Individual”
The influence of Media and Information over elections, politics and, governance.
Politicians used to go over the country to contact with individuals and meet with them in person once upon a time. That is gradually being phased out in favor of online townhalls, which are becoming more popular. Video conferencing, video calls, social networking apps, and other technological advances today make it possible to communicate with a large number of people at the same time, across multiple timezones, without having to physically move. In the past, the television media, radio media, and cable television (all of which were designated as traditional media) were the primary repository of information, and hence the primary influencers in politics and administration. However, this has changed.
With the internet, it is now possible for individuals or groups of people with little or no technological investment to establish themselves and build a following large enough to exert influence over government. And with the rise of online petitions and Wikileaks, the proliferation of terrorist organizations with strong information and technology capabilities, as well as social media skills, the way public office holders and other stakeholders in governance used to think about governance has been permanently altered.
