The role of politics on social media

By: Jonah Wirrick

As social media has become such a large part of today’s world, it is no surprise that politicians have embraced social media as they have. It makes sense. Social media is a platform that allows anyone to say or read whatever they want to anyone who listens. In recent years, it seems like politicians have had more to say on social media than they have at press conferences or debates. Social media allows a politician to talk directly to anyone whether they agree with them or not. However, this is not always a good thing.

Image by Jackie Ramirez from Pixabay

Politics in America

Americans have had different opinions on who should lead our country since 1787 when differing political parties were officially formed. It is human nature to disagree with others on certain topics. It could range anywhere from if pineapple belongs on pizza to whether or not the USA should play a part in foreign affairs. However, one of the most disagreed upon topics is politics.

Politics on social media

Politics play a massive role in our society. You will be hardpressed to go a day without seeing something about the POTUS or his competition. Social media has become a place where anyone can speak their mind and stand up for or against anyone, specifically politicians. With politician’s lives being so open, they often put themselves in the line of fire for criticism. No matter what they do or say, there will always be somebody that disagrees with them. Republicans will always disagree with what the Democrats say and vice versa. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, whatever other social media platform you can think of, they all give any random person a platform in which to state their opinion. While this is their legal right, it often causes unnecessary arguments among people that would never interact with each other otherwise.

Political news outlets on social media

While it is common to see people share their opinion on a specific political topic over social media, it is even more common, that we get our political news from biased news websites and reporters. While reporters often claim to be unbiased while reporting news, everyone has an opinion and when we care so strongly about something, it becomes quite difficult to remain unbiased. It is very rare to find an actual unbiased online newspaper that factually reports on politics. Social media is one of the most useful tools to them as they can let their readers know that they put out an article as soon as it goes live. They can also report on breaking news stories as soon as they happen. Because of this, unaware readers tend to get fed biased information about a story that they should be able to make a personal, informed decision for themselves. But, that is simply the nature of political journalism.

Politician’s accounts

One thing that must be considered when talking about the role that politics play on social media would be the “personal” social media accounts of politicians. While Mary from Georgia may not like what Stew from New York has to say on Twitter, They both most definitely care what President Trump tweets out daily. Political figures have a social media account so that they have the ability to reach out to the people that support them. There are both pros and cons to this as these political figures can speak out on certain issues as soon as they happen, but if they are not careful, they might inadvertently cause more issues for themselves.

 

If used correctly, social media can be a great tool for news outlets, political figures, and the average person. However, with so many people against you for simply having a different opinion, people have been forced to think very carefully about what they say and who they say it to. Politics have a massive impact on social media and how the average person uses it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonah Wirrick

Student Author - Fall 2020