In this past presidential election I noticed a growing presence of political propaganda on social media. As social media has grown to be a huge part of our day-to-day lives, politicians have noticed this trend and created a new platform to get their messages across. Just a few examples of this are Marco Rubio broadcasting “Snapchat Stories” at stops along the trail, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush arguing over student debt on Twitter, Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham produce goofy YouTube videos, the list goes on and on.
And while this direct contact with voters can be a great platform to get ideas and messages across, it can also be harmful. While politicians can get their messages across, it seems to be that only the loudest get heard. A prime example of this is our current President of the United States, Donald Trump. Trump has made a career out of talking over and bullying people to get his way, and when he was a reality TV show host that was all fine and good, but when you’re running to be the president these tactics are extremely frowned upon. Or are they?
Trump has turned campaigning and debates into prime time entertainment, and it has clearly worked in his favor. Due to this entertainment factor people decided they liked him based on reasons they would never like any other person, let alone any other politician. Is this what the future holds for politics? Citizens voting based on entertainment as opposed to values and the common good?
When I originally looked at this assignment, I had the exact same thoughts as you. I think it’s fantastic that you’ve stated what is really happening in politics and social media. The President of the United States uses social media as a way to bring people in, not because he’s stating hard facts on a public platform, but because people are entertained by his outrageous and absurd use of social media. Hopefully in the next election citizens will base their vote on the common good rather than which candidate is more entertaining on Twitter.
Very erudite post. How are our choices and opinions swayed based on things such as entertainment and charisma? People say a large reason why JFK was voted for was the TV; I wonder if years from now they`ll say something similar about Trump?