Yes, I think it
would necessitate some re-evaluation. Social media has made the world a smaller
place and the United States has shrunk quite a lot with 72% of the public using
some platform of social media according to the pew research center. The
founders of this nation could have never fathomed the concept of social media
or the power it ow holds over our country. Many social media fads or trends
have affected politics in the United States. For example, I remember a video
that was going around of Bernie Sanders dancing to the Drake song “Hotline
Bling”. It was quite funny and it allowed more citizens to know his name. Even
Trump has gained something from the media and that is coverage. Albeit most of
it is bad, his name is still out there and people are able to place his name
and face together. Before social media women, property and lower income
families would not have been able to place names to faces especially for people
who were in positions deemed less important. Along with this I believe social
media has begun to turn elections into somewhat of a looks and phrases contest.
Whoever gives the statement which will make the best headline gets the most
coverage. Along with that young voters often turn to social media to get their
facts and keep up with certain organizations such as planned parenthood. Social
media has made it easier for people to communicate with each other, discuss
politics and current events, as well as keep up to date on different
occurrences within the United States and around the world.
Consequently,
due to this ease of communication, factions are easily formed. I believe within
the political parties- which our forefathers did not want to be formed in the
first place- there are small groups who hold separate beliefs and opinions but
in order to be heard had to group together. With social media the spread of
ideas and opinions is more accessible and understandable to the average
citizen. I do not think the founding fathers would be particularly fond of how
our great nation has become virtually so small. They depended on size in order
to ensure the election of good men. Their belief was the nation was big enough
that men with ill intentions would not last long in a position of authority.
Well I believe with social media it is easier to manipulate the populace.
Obviously it is also easier to unmask people and their wrongdoings as well, but
with a young generation who is obsessed/addicted to image, appearance, memes,
and the first words of a headline manipulation is all too easy. The authors of
the federalist papers would have to reconsider how the size of the Republic is
beneficial in a world where the spread of information occurs so quickly.
Works Cited
Works Cited
“Social Media Fact Sheet.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 12 June 2019, www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/.
The equalizing of access is an important point. I wonder how the founders, who were generally suspicious of too much direct democracy, would have felt about that.
ReplyDeleteI believe the founders would have been skeptical about the role of social media in politics today. Its overpowering presence would incite a desire within them to control this dominant force in order to steer the media in their favor and avoid political backlash from the people. Rapid dispersal of political information is not a concept which they would support; the founders set up our government to be slow so that decisions were deliberated upon. With social media public opinion can often push officials towards supporting policy solely because of the pressures of re election and how their image will improve if they are seen doing or supporting something which social media is promoting as well. Overall the founding fathers would not be number one fans of social media, however once they grasped the concept of it and how to use it in their favor to control public opinion then I think they would have made good use of it.
DeleteDear well…hmm,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your perspicuous observation about social media’s complicity in the celebrification of American politics. Does social media’s celebrification of politics intensify the toxicity of factions?
I think social media does make politics more of a discussion topic for people since it is so widely shared and promoted on the various platforms. In that regard I believe it does play a role in intensifying factions. People tend to believe headlines or posts about a current event or policy debate rather than doing their own intense research. For this reason I believe social media generates a large group of uninformed individuals who think they know all the facts and therefore spread messages about their opinions. Which in turn creates more division within our society and intensifies previously existing factions.
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