Social media platforms have lately aided in the staging of rallies against racism around the nation, prompting teens and K-Pop lovers to register for a Trump rally in June despite having no intention of attending.
However, social media usage influences young users' political beliefs and participation in other ways, such as exposing users to specific viewpoints or impacting their awareness of current events.
According to a Pew Research Center poll, the majority of questioned youths said social media introduced them to individuals from other backgrounds and perspectives and helped them demonstrate support for causes and topics that were important to them.
For BYU students, the report's findings reflect their perceptions of how social media platforms affect their political beliefs.
In an informal Instagram survey conducted on The Daily Universe's account, 89 percent of the 273 respondents stated that social media had influenced their political beliefs and activity. When pressed for examples, the majority of responders stated that social media has exposed them to many points of view, while a handful stated that social media may create echo chambers.
Abby Bjorkman, a BYU student, said social media has allowed her to explore perspectives outside of her primarily white society. "With the Black Lives Matter movement, in particular, I've been able to educate myself on other people's perspectives in America other than my own, which is the perspective of a white girl."
While Bjorkman acknowledges that it is possible to become trapped in an echo chamber and only see postings from individuals who share similar viewpoints, she believes she has followed a diverse enough range of people to hear contrasting viewpoints.
"Some users might feel intense on both sides, even terrifying, but it is up to the user to adjust how much they want to see," Bjorkman explained.
According to Pamela Brubaker, a BYU public relations professor, social media users sometimes only connect with information that represents their own beliefs, which leads to the apps promoting other comparable content.
"News and information are pushed to us based on the material and people we interact with online," Brubaker explained. "As a result, if your Facebook or Instagram friends are more politically engaged, you are more likely to be exposed to political information."
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted on. Oct.9-Nov. 11, 2019. Americans Who mainly get their News on Social media are less engaged, less knowledgeable"
Pew Research Center
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you that social media has played a big role in politics recently because we have seen that first hand since roughly the end of the Obama administration. Following his presidency was that of Donald Trump, so I think it is safe to say with Trump as president that political awareness on social media rose during that time. I think the question at hand becomes, is the information on those social medias reliable? Most of the time I would say no, that is because I find it hard to trust a source that I found on facebook. However, I would be more inclined to read an article from a Twitter user because I find that twitter has more reliable news sources that Facebook. Great post!!
I agree that politics is in too deep on social media. I think part of why this is a problem is people are posting about something because of their following, not because they're qualified to speak on the subject. One thing that comes to mind is the Georgia Election Security Act that passed in 2021. This bill was originally super controversial with heat coming from all sides, all over the country. TikTokers from all over the country were voicing their opinions on the bill, but they were spreading lies about it which caused the bill even more heat. As facts came out about the new law, people started to be quiet about it. It was too late, though. Protests had happened, companies had voiced their opinion, and the MLB lost out on the opportunity to have the All Star game here. All this happened because someone thought they'd voice their opinion on something they didn't know anything about.
ReplyDeleteHi there, I have to agree that social media has way too much involvement in politics. I think the trend between involvement in social media and politics became especially prominent during Obama's presidency, and the trend has continued since then. With politicians becoming so active on social media in the last few years, its not necessarily a surprise that social media platforms promote so much political content and have become so involved in politics. It is unfortunate because so many people use social media as a space to rant about politics, when majority of the time those individuals are not educated/ informed enough on the matters that they discuss, or on politics as a whole. This is incredibly problematic because many young adults who are not yet educated on politics look to these users (and social media as a whole as their means for political news and news in general. Great post.
ReplyDelete