Nothing has impacted globally and so immensely the way social media has the past decade. People from business men to musicians and politicians all use social media on a daily basis. Although we all differ social media connects us all in ways no body thought was possible. According to the article written on Pewinternet.org, entitled “Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014”, the percentage of the people who used social media sites like twitter and facebook to track political news has spread and grown like wildfire. Even though people have this mindset as to where republicans and democrats are the most different and separated people there are, the article states some interesting facts about them. It seems they both engage in the same behavioral acts on social media almost the very same amount. Social media has become the home to political news. According to an article entitled “The Role Played By Social Media In Political Participation And Electoral Campaigns”, elections and electoral campaigns still play a central role but social media sites such as youtube, facebook, and twitter provide new ways to “stimulate citizen engagement”. My understanding of this is that it makes citizens feel as if they play an important role in eclection and are actually effecting it in some way. Its also gives them way more insight on candidates. While reading, “Crossing the Campaign Divide: Dean Changes the Election Game David Iozzi and Lance Bennett”, I came across a very interesting concept. “They have the potential to transform conventional political practices, bringing about a new type of campaign characterized by direct citizen involvement and bottom-up grassroots organizing”. What I understand from this is that social media has the potential to change politics as we know it and it has been doing so surely for a while now. One great example of this is the great orange cheeto I have as a president. His name is Donald Trump and he chooses to rant about the most idiotic things on twitter. For some reason he seems to feel the need to write down and publicize everything he is thinking. One example of this is in an article on The New York Times called, “Pithy Mean And Powerful”. They talk about how he chose to speak of an actress named Kim Novak. He said ,” “I’m having a real hard time watching, “Kim should sue her plastic surgeon!” Who would think we’d have such a disgusting man as president.

Since the emergence of social media things have been much easier for people and more transparent when it comes to advertising and passing on information. Since the emergence of smart phones, everyone has social media.They go hand in hand. With that being said, after the election we can look back and see how much social media and and smart phones effected the election.

Some argue that following your candidate o social media you feel closer and more informed in the race but i disagree. I think the power still lies in their speeches and rallies. furthermore, since the emergence of social media, it is easier to find out about your candidate that you are following. You can receive up to date post as often as they post and see what they are up to. And it works in other ways as well because you can also keep an eye on your competitors and see who is really supporting their race.

Voters will be able to feel like they are the first to hear about things or news in the race, and they can get the best information including conflict or dirt that has not passed through to traditional media filters.

I personally don’t vote and didn’t vote this year because both candidate that were in the running did not represent anything that i believed in or wanted, but if i did vote, i would have used social media to keep up with all the information. Donald trump and Obama both used twitter exclusively during their presidential races and it turned out for the better for both of them.Bernie sanders as well. Although he did not win, his message and his run got out and around a lot while he was running.

The readings for this week made me realize that social media plays a huge role in politics today. We have all witnessed this especially in this generation. We all witnessed Donald Trump use twitter as a way to address the public. There are a lot of pros and cons when it comes to social media and politics. During the 2016 presidential campaign social media was used heavily. I believe that politicians now use social media because in today’s society everyone uses the media to interact with each other. It is easier to access news via social media websites such as twitter, or your cellphone in general.

In the article Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014, the writer includes a lot of statistics that prove that people use their cellphones and social media to access news and gain knowledge with campaigns. The writer includes statistics such as “28% of registered voters have used their cell phone in this way during the 2014 campaign, up from 13% in 2010.” Another statistic is Some 40% of voters ages 30-49 have used their cell phone to follow this year’s election campaign (up from 15% in 2010) and 21% follow political figures on social media (up from just 6% in 2010).

My favorite reading is Pithy, Mean and Powerful: How Donald Trump Mastered Twitter for 2016. This articles talks about Trump and how he abuses social media and uses it to bully people and opposing politicians. Trump has mastered twitter and he uses it as a way to address things instead of actually talking directly to the public, in person. In my opinion, there should be a limit on what presidents can and cannot post because the things that Trump posts are detrimental to society and if a president can bully people online, what example is that setting out to people?

1. For my activity I split the class into two groups. I had one group come up with their own blog name and post. While I handed out two news stories to the next group. One was a blog post and the other was a real news story. They had to determine which one was the real post and which one was the blog.
2. Yes, I thought it was successful and I thought the class had fun
3. Yes. My goal was for the class to have fun and it looked like they did.
4. I learned that I have some very smart/creative classmates. Especially the group that came up with their own blog post. It was very creative and interesting to hear.
5. I would probably research how to become a good blogger and start one about my whole semester and the things I experience. I would be able to see my growth in writing and I would have something to look back on for memories.

I think social media does have an effect on political campaigns. I don’t think the effect is always negative. For example in the article titled “The Role Played By Social Media In Political Participation and Electoral Campaigns.” They mention that “personal communication via social media brings politicians and parties closer to their potential voters.” Which to me is very true. Social media allows for politicians to communicate faster with their audience. Especially their younger audience. In this generation well pick up a phone to find out information before we turn on the television to find out information. In the article “Cell Phones, Social Media and campaign 2014” they did a few studies on people who follow political campaigns and why they choose to do so. Some of the reasons were they like to find out information about political news before other people do. They also liked getting more reliable information than what is available from news organizations. In this generation with all the fake news we receive I couldn’t agree with that last statement more.

All in all I think social media helps with campaigns more than it hurts. I feel like it becomes negative when people don’t use their platform the proper way. For example Donald Trump. All he has ever done on twitter was bash people. I don’t even remember when he ever said anything nice about someone. If he ever did it was after receiving backlash about being rude. For example when actress Kim Novak was on the academy awards Donald Trump tweeted “I’m having a really hard time watching. Kim should sue her plastic surgeon.” Of course not until he receives backlash does he send her a private letter apologizing. To me this is where social media can began to have a negative impact on campaigns because with tweets like that you start to tear people down. If social media wasn’t invented he wouldn’t even have the power to make people feel the way Kim felt. At the same time social media can really show the real you. So it can help you figure out who you should and shouldn’t be voting for.

Social media has been a big impact on politics this past couple of years. Obama was the first to use Twitter to follow up with younger voters. He did that to gain the votes of younger people he wanted to appeal to them. All the articles show how social media use in politics has increased. It is used as a platform for politicians for there campaigns. It has exceeded more and more as time and technology improve. our former president uses social media a lot. President Trump uses Twitter a lot to communicate with the public. Although most people would say that what he posts some people may not agree with. They think that a lot of his posts are inappropriate. Instead of using the platform to speak to the people. He uses it to express how feels about certain things. But as president it does not look good.

I would agree with the articles and how they talk about the change in campaigns. Since technology is advancing and more people are using it. politicians want to get people to notice them and to follow them so they go on social media because it is was everyone is using. That is how trump gets his followers and gets the public to see what he is doing and talking about every day. It is a platform where there is communication with the public. This is how society has changed us and the way we interact with each other. Now more even in a broader sense of politics and news and things that are important in the country.

The readings for this blog post piqued my interest as I am still flabbergasted at our current President Trump and his social media usage. I am an older woman and have watched many campaigns during my years and nothing was like this last race for presidency in 2016. I am still in shock that social media was a force a force to be reckoned with in this past election simply because of past elections and social media wasn’t as prevalent. Social media has played a huge part in in the last presidency and different political campaigns all together. One of the reasons why social media and the use of smartphones were well received during the campaigns is because of the change in technology over the past decade or so.  Most people use smartphones which are phones with mini computers that give you access to everything like entertainment, technology, news including political campaigns. Humans are attached to their cellphones. In the reading, Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014, the author confirms the cellphone usage for political campaigns, “among 30-49 year olds. Some 40% of voters ages 30-49 have used their cellphone to follow this year’s election campaign (up from 15% in 2010),” (Aaron Smith, Pg. 1)

Research has shown that there has been a huge connection between political campaigns and social media over the years. People feel that that one of the best ways to reach voters is through social media and through all channels. Twitter happens to be one of the best social channels to use because everybody is on Twitter as it is very popular and it reaches the masses. Twitter and Instagram are very personal even though the world and your handle are connected that’s why a lot of people gravitate to these social media sites. In the reading, The role played by special media in political participation and electoral campaigns, it was stated, “Personal communication via social media brings political parties closer to their potential viewers.” This is completely true and sadly it works because Donnie (Trump) has figured it out and is relentless with his twitter fingers. In my department in my company we joke about his tweets every day and we are still shocked that he became president. In my eyes, he has always been a rude, big mouth bully. He has always been this way and now even in his presidency he does the same things for every situation. The article, Pithy, Mean and Powerful: How Donald Trump Mastered Twitter for 2016 stated, “A year later, Mr. Trump has mastered Twitter in a way no candidate for president ever has, unleashing and redefining its power as a tool of political promotion, distraction, score settling and attack,”

Honestly, I have to agree that media and political campaigns are definitely connected in recent years and it appears that social media is the way to go to gain followers and votes. It’s quick, easy and fun. Even though previous historic mediums like TV and newspapers are still giants in their own rights but social media is a newer wave and it isn’t going anywhere. My question is, after Trump will all the rest of the presidents to come, tweet like him? Sigh…

Betsy M. Paula

MCS 244

Prof. Brucker-Cohen

Assignment N. 2

“How is print media losing ground to electronic media in both content and delivery systems??”

The decline on print media consumers is one of the reasons why I believe print media is losing ground to electronic media. When searching for news in the media not only are you able to tread about but, you’re also able to watch live pictures and videos that will provide better information of what has happened or about what is happening at the moment. As far as delivery media is able to spread the news in a matter of seconds. In the article “Why Bloggers Can’t Replace the Work of Professional Journalists” the author mentions “Professional journalists hit the streets of the communities they cover on a daily basis in order to dig up stories important to the people living there.” Now, the issue that many have encountered throughout the years is that some of these newspapers might be owned by people of different ideas or beliefs, from their reader. Which makes the reader more skeptical about the information provided. Is it all there? Is the information provided from a conservative or liberal point of view? This argument keeps many from watching news and even from purchasing newspaper.  Contrary to what the article also stated “many bloggers do spend most of their time sharing their subjective” A lot of bloggers also just provide information on accidents, tragedies, accidents or anything they might’ve witnessed excluding their opinion. This information that is being put out also tends to be more specific or graphic as the regulations on these sites aren’t as strict as the newspaper. This being one of the reasons why most prefer the electronic media outlet causing print media to lose ground to electronic media in both content and delivery system.

It seems as if these days anyone can be a journalist, especially if they have a smart phone. My question is does that tarnish the prestige of being a journalist? Does it affect the path in becoming a journalist? I say this because anyone now can pull out their smart phones out and interview people or bring awareness on an issue etc etc. And they have the perfect platforms to do so. In Instagram Facebook and Youtube. I know many “Youtubers” who go out to the city with a camera and a microphone with no journalism degree and have a great following and are actually getting information out there while being paid. It’s insane! However I still believe that the credibility of a real journalist isnt brought down because of the uproar of bloggers and vloggers and instagramers so on and so forth. Tony Rogers the author of the first article mentions that bloggers, even professional and credible ones referred to as “citizen journalism” will never replace real journalism. He says this is because that these bloggers seem to always trace their information back to the newspapers and original sources of media. So it’s like what came first the chicken or the egg. This is referring to citizen journalists and professional bloggers who do good work but that same work is based off of like I said before original sources of media. Now this leaves the vloggers and “YouTubers” who speak freely. That is different from journalism because a true journalist  must be unbiased. Real journalists are subjective unlike the vloggers who post objectively.