How Social Media Has Changed Politics

                   This post is a summary of two articles. The first with the title above published in August 2019 at   houghtco.com/how-social-media-has-changed-politics-3367534. The second was published at   https://sysomos.com/2016/10/05/social-media-affects-politics/

                  The use of social media has dramatically changed the way campaigns are run and how citizens interact with their elected officials. The prevalence of social media in politics has made elected officials and candidates more accountable and accessible to voters. And the ability to publish content and broadcast it to millions of people instantaneously allows campaigns to manage their candidates's images based on rich sets of analytics in real time and at almost no cost. Social media tools allow politicians to speak directly to voters without spending a dime. It has become fairly common for political campaigns to rpoduce commercials and publish them for free on YouTube instead of, or in addition to, paying for time on TV or the radio. Often, journalists covering campaigns will write about those YouTube ads, broadcasting their message to a wider audicence at no cost to the politicians. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have become instrumental in organizing campaigns. They allow like-minded voters and activists to easily share news and information such as campaign events with each other. Political campaigns can tap into a wealth of information or analytics about the people who are following them on social media and customize their messages based on selected demographics. A campaign may find one message appropriate for voters under 30 years old will not be as effective with those over 60 years old. Some campaigns have used so-called "money bombs" to raise large amounts of cash in a short time. Money bombs are typically 24-hour periods in which candidates press their supporters to donate money. They use social media to get the word out and often tie these money bombs to specific controversies that emerge during campaigns. Direct access to voters also has its downside. Politicians to send out unfiltered posts has landed many candidates in hot water or embarrassing situations. A good example is Anthony Weiner, who lost his seat in Congress after exchanging sexually explicit  messages and photos with women on his Facebook account. Asking for feedback from voters or constituents can be a good thing. Many campagns hire staffers to monitor their social media channels for a negative response and scrub anything unflattering. But such a bunker-like mentality can make a campaign appear defensive and closed off from public. Well-run modern-day campaign will engage the public regardless of whether their feedback is negative or positive. The value of social media is in its immediacy. Politicians and campaign do absolutely nothing without first knowing how their policy statements or moves will play among the electorate. Twitter and Facebook both allow them to instantaneously gauge how the public is responding to an issue or controversy. Politicians can then adjust their campaigns accordingly, in real time, without the use of high-priced consultants or expensive polling. Social media tools have allowed citizens to easily join together to petition the government and their elected officials, leveraging their numbers against the influence of powerful lobbyists and monied special interests. make no mistake, lobbyists and special interest still have the upper hand, but the day will come when the power of social media allows like-minded citizens to join together in ways that will be just as powerful.

                The political landscape has changed quite a bit in the last couple of decades. The internet has played a large role in this transformation. Social media, in particular, is now a serious factor in political campaigns and in the way people think about issues. Candidates and their supporters constantly post their views on social media. One of the ways that social media has transformed politics is the sheer speed at which news, polls results and rumors are shared. While you can access news on many websites at any hour, most people spend more time on social media than they do on news or political websites. This mean that you get all of the latest trending news stories and opinions shared by your friends whenever you log in. One of the positive effects that social media has on politics is the opportunity for voters to interact more easily with candidates and elected officials. Targeting is used throughout the advertising industry to make sure that ads and messages reach the right audience. In the age of social media, politicians and people running for office are able to target their campaigns. Political campaigns are now influenced by every story, whether true or not, that gets spread around social media. It's getting more and more difficult to separate actual news from fake news online. Social media makes this distinction especially confusing. The constant stream of memes, links and rumors about political leaders and candidates is a mixture of truth, lies, satire and speculation. There are now quite a few fake or satirical "news" sites that often post stories that sound authentic. There are also sites with political biases or those peddling various unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. It's therefore necessary to use a great deal of discernment before believing anything.  One of the hidden forces that operates on social media is confirmation bias. The majority of your friends and followers on social media probably share your outlook. This means that the vast majority of posts, pins or other content you read on  social media tend to express the same point of view, one that you already hold. It's natural for people to surround themselves with others of like mind. This is true both online and offline. On social media, this can create the illusion that "everybody" thinks the same way. People will post links to stories that confirm your existing bias. They will repeat opinions you already hold. For this reason, social media may reinforce our opinion and make it more difficult to understand alternative points of view. In politics, it can help to make people more opinionated and less tolerant of others. On the other hand, if you connect with an assortment of people with diverse viewpoints, you can overcome confirmation bias and use social media to make you more open-minded. There are sure to be many political changes that come about due to social media. There are now proposals for internet voting, which could lead to more people participating in elections. As social media becomes ever more popular, its impact on politics will only increase over time, it will be interesting to observe how this plays out.