Politics and Social Media

The article I read was called “Social Media and Political Engagement.” This article was written on October 19, 2012, by Lee Rainie, Aaron Smith, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Henry Brady, and Sidney Verba. The publisher of the “Social Media and Political Engagement” was published by the Pew Research Center’s Internet &American Life Project in Washington DC. This article is a survey of 2,253 adults who are adults 18years and older who were asked a series of questions about civic engagement through people’s use of social networking sites and Twitter.

FIVE KEY POINTS

1.       Politics are taking over social media, and more people are using social media to promote politics.

2.       34% of social media users have used the tools to post their own thoughts or comments on political issues and social issues.

3.       31% of social media users have used the tools to encourage people to take action on a political or social issue.

4.       21% of those who use social media sites or Twitter belong to a group on social networking site that is involved in political or social issues

5.       20% of social media users have used tools to follow elected officials and candidates for office. 

FIVE TERMS I DID NOT KNOW

1.       Civic engagement

2.       Attributable

3.       PSRAI

4.       Partisan composition

5.       Ideological composition

REACTION

At first when I got assigned this article was not to happy about it because I am so tired of being haunted by politics. Then I read the results, and I was amused with what I found. It is interesting to me that more democrats use social media than republicans. The younger generation is using social media to promote political issues than the older generation. I was not really surprised that the generation 30-49 was more likely to encourage people to vote than the younger generation, but I was surprised that the younger generation 18-29 encouraged people to act on political issues.

I find this information interesting because I personally do not believe in sharing politics, unless it is to make fun of the politicians. I am also in my 20s and do not  vote, I do not see the point in voting, I do not feel that my voice is heard and that politics is a waste of time. I also not like the fact that all these people lie to you; I just do not like liars who just care about hurting each other instead of improving our country. I tell you this because when I see all my friends sharing their political views over social media, it upsets me. I sometimes feel that they are forcing their views on me, and it in a way makes me judge them.  Our forefathers wanted a silent ballad for a reason, it was so we did not judge people on political beliefs and get separated by our views and our votes. It is weird to be that social media is a way to share our lives, but some things are meant to be private, in my opinion.

I just found the whole article interesting that younger people are trying to push politics on social media sites. However, I do think that it is cool that politicians use social media to connect with voters, I think it is important for people to see politicians as people and vote on a person not a party or a figure.

I guess my overall rant is that we use social media to share everything, and when people take up my news feed on Facebook with nasty comments about politics I personally do not want to be friends with them. I think there should be a restriction on politics on social media, that way we can get away from the stress of people hounding us with beliefs and keep something’s private.