Question

How do you think social media can best be used in the future by political campaigns? How can it best be used by citizens to participate in and engage with the political system?

Answer 1

Disengagement with mainstream politics, particularly among young people, is a common concern among politicians. But in an age of all things digital, and with the growth of social media platforms, there are undoubtedly more ways than ever to engage people with politics. In future socail media can be used in many ways by political campagins:

• Candidates and their supporters can use the social media to constantly post their views on social platforms. Each party will have its own pages, from which it will broadcast its propaganda and requests for donations.
• In the social media political campaign, it will be the best opportunity for voters to interact more easily with candidates and elected officials. With advanced technology, it will be possible to attend virtual events where one can participate in live streaming events and interact with politicians and candidates.
• Social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, can dramatically reduce the perceived ‘barrier’ between the electorate and political decision-makers.
• Social media will allow politicians to communicate faster and reach citizens in a more targeted manner and vice versa, without the intermediate role of mass media. Reactions, feedback, conversations and debates are generated online as well as support and participation for offline events. Messages posted to personal networks will be multiplied when shared, which will allow new audiences to be reached.
• Clearly, Social media will reshape structures and methods of contemporary political communication by influencing the way politicians interact with citizens and each other.

Citizens can increasingly turn to social media platforms to follow election news and developments. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, 16 percent of registered American voters used social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to get political information and follow election news during the 2014 U.S. midterm elections, more than doubling the number of registered voters who used social media for the same purpose in 2010. Additionally, more and more Americans are also using cell phones to follow political news, with 28 percent of registered voters having done so in 2014. So, the tendency is clear that in coming future citizens can directly engage themselves with the political systems via social media platforms. One of the ways that social media has transformed politics is the sheer speed at which news, poll results and rumors are shared. Social media has also taken this a step further. While one can access news on many websites at any hour, most people spend more time on sites such as Facebook and Twitter than they do on serious news or political websites. This means that one can get all of the latest trending news stories and opinions shared by your friends whenever you log on. So, in future increasing participation of citizens will encourage more political campaigns to take place in social platforms.