What Impact Does Social Media Have On Presidential Elections

In the history of the United States, different media types have played key roles in the presidential elections and its campaigns, and has changed over 240 years. From the newspapers, to the radio, and to the television; the election campaigns have been influenced, relied, and affected the course of history. When the World Wide Web (WWW) became accessible to the public, public figures such as politicians, saw it as a tool to connect with the people, especially with the younger generation in order to promote their campaigns on the internet and also to have the a wider number of people to support them. As of now, especially in last year’s presidential election, social media (SNS) was heavily used by most notably the president elect; Mr. Donald J. Trump. But how much of an impact does social media have on election campaigns? To understand why the usage of social media in campaign elections are so critical in the 21st century, the definition must be understood before going further. According to the Merriam-Webster’s definition of “social media”, it is a “forms of

By creating an account and broadcasting there political beliefs and campaigns, this will give them a chance of gaining not only supporters, but also votes that they need from those supporters. Unlike the previous media type, which was the TV and newspapers, they were accessible but were not able to connect with the whole mass where they can discuss. With social media (internet), those who have access can, not only participate but also discuss live anywhere in the world and see what the politicians are doing right now. In other words, social media is the new media, and a type of advertisement which does not require any sort of payment and a new way to tell the people what the politicians are doing at the