How Does Social Media Affect The Election

The effects of web based communication have really skyrocketed recently. With communication via email or social media it enables anyone to reach a large audience in a very short period of time. We are going to venture into the world of social media to find out if, 1. Has web based communication influenced the political arena and 2. How is Social media affecting the past and present presidential election. Social media has been around for a while now, but the 2008 Presidential election in the United States showed increased numbers in the younger generation due to the world wide web and social media. Dr. Emily Metzgar wrote a paper in 2009 that showed a study done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that “46% of Americans used the Internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others” (Metzgar 2009, pg. 1-2.). It goes on to say that “10% used social networking sites like Myspace or Facebook to learn more about the race”. This is huge, because now people are turning to the

The world wide web is a gateway for immense information. For a politician, this means they can send out messages to thousands of people in seconds. It is a more cost effective way to get their message out, then the traditional television ads. Flash forward to the current election season that we are in. For me as soon as I log into Facebook I see at least 5-10 posts immediately about the candidates. They can pay Facebook to put their posts at the top of everyone news feed so they get the spotlight. An article written by Steven Petrow showed a study that “nearly 40% of us "like" or post about political issues on social media sites and that 65 percent of Americans now use them, up from 25% at the start of the Obama presidency in 2009.” (Petrow 2015, pg. 1) That is a huge jump, so why wouldn’t the candidates use it every chance they get when it has proven to have a pretty big