![]() Contributed by Yoji Hayashi A few weeks ago, our class read the article, “How the 2016 Presidential Candidates Measure up on Social Media,” by Ry Crist and Caitlin Petrakovitz. After our class read the article, we discussed what kinds of social media are productive to promote a presidential campaign and what types of social media voters use to respond to the campaign. Crist and Petrakovitz reported that social media platforms have become the online soap box for anyone looking for to win the presidency, and some candidates find more of a following than others. Crist and Petrakovitz provide the specific number of followers for each candidate in several social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. According to Crist and Petrakovitz, Twitter and Facebook are productive social media platforms because their number of followers is bigger than that of other social media, such as YouTube and Snapchat. Also, Facebook and Twitter allow users to exchange opinions quickly. In terms of synchronization, Snapchat might be a more productive social medium because it allows people to send and share information quickly. However, our class thinks Snapchat was better for sharing daily activities and hobbies between friends and family with visual images and video. In terms of political campaigns, Facebook and Twitter might be the most efficient social media because the number of users and the type of platform encourage people to engage in conversation. Another researcher, Tom Murse, addressed 10 reasons why politicians use social media to promote their campaigns. One of reasons politicians use social media is for fundraising. Some campaigns have used social media to collect large amounts of money in a short period of time. I think this is a hidden aspect of why politicians use social media. People might take a risk when they click or share the links. People should be aware of the hidden aspects of social media in politics!
0 Comments
Contributed by Jenna Oberthaler
We often hear presidential candidates talking about education or healthcare, but this year candidate Donald Trump is talking about gay couples. The New York Times quotes Trump on gay couples, saying, “If two people dig each other, they dig each other.” The president of the Log Cabin Republicans says, “He will be the most gay-friendly Republican nominee for president ever.” Could these comments be related to why Donald Trump has had the most followers on Twitter? Compared to other candidates, Trump is the only candidate to reach 5 million followers. Although Trump has been in the lead for social media sites, Twitter and Facebook, since February, his recent comments on gay and lesbian couples could be a factor as to what will keep him in the lead. In the New York Times article, Trump doesn’t only voice his opinion on couples but he goes as far as to say he opposes the recent law passed in North Carolina prohibiting people from using public bathrooms that do not correspond to the gender they were born with. Trump believes transgender people should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.” My question to you readers is, do you think Trump is using his favoritism towards transgender couples to gain votes or distract the comments that he has already made and cannot take back? Obviously, Trump wants people to vote for him, but it seems as if this could be a distraction to allow people to forget about the things he has said in the past throughout his campaign. There are many other important things that Trump has said but this seems to have gained many people’s attention, I believe that this could be due to how controversial the topic is. Distraction or not, Trump will go down in history for siding with gay couples as a Republican candidate. |
New and Social MediaOn this page, students provide reports and opinions on various developments and social concerns in new media communication. Categories
All
Archives
April 2019
|