Social media is a burgeoning form of media just recently being studied. Its ability to connect a wide range of people, including those in a political position of power, is bound to have an effect on the voting populace. Sites like Twitter and Facebook allow for the uncensored opinions of close friends, family members, celebrities, and other important figures to be emphasized in a way that traditional face-to-face communication cannot accomplish (Bennett, 2012). As a result, political scientists have taken advantage of this new tool, attempting to see if social media influences voting patterns, ideological preferences, and even more individualistic political aspects. One change caused by social media has been more public access to politicians. Even the current United States president is active on social media: something unheard of only twenty years ago. Yet, this ability to see politicians “unfiltered” may have an effect on political participation. To understand this change, however, we must understand how social media has changed the concept of political participation as well. As researched by Natalie Fenton & Veronica Barassi, alternative media such as social media has given rise to creative and autonomous forms of political participation. Fenton and Barassi conclude that political participation now extends to certain collective interactions using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter campaigns. Within our own research, we will be using Fenton and Barassi expansion of