Every time you turn on the television, it is a constant reminder that it is an election year. Some of the most argumentative and socially unmanageable political debates happen right in the middle of our living rooms; and, because we have so many voices, those unknowledgeable of current debate issues turn to their favorite television station with their most recognized political reporter or pundit. My favorite happens to be Anderson Cooper, but that is neither here nor there.
This image of Anderson Cooper comes from the CNN website.
Now, let us get back to the topic at hand. Strictly based on Twitter supporters, the frontrunners of the republican primaries have the following number of followers: Newt Gingrich, with a little over 1.4 million, Mitt Romney, with over 347,000 and Rick Santorum, with over 142,000. Now, we may not be able to predict the republican primaries on twitter supporters, especially since only 13% of Twitter supporters are adults; but, what about the effect of parental influence? An article written by McIntosh, Hart and Youniss entitled The Influence of Family Political Discussion on Youth Civic Development: Which Parent Qualities Matter? showed that political knowledge–not social standing in society–was what emotionally affected the thought process of the youth. That being said, not only would we be able to conclude that these children were reflections of their parents but, also, that they were potentially political reflections on election outcomes.
When it came to the democratic primaries, it was a slugfest. When it came to over saturation in social media, Senator Obama dominated his fellow running mates before he became president. In twitter alone, he had more than 11 times the followers of McCain on Twitter.
The results may not represent all of the voices in the 2008 democratic primaries; but, if these sequences of events are a reflection on the previous elections, we may need to start paying attention.
This subject is very timely specifically during this election year. I believe this article is touching on a trend that President Obama’s campaign was able to capitalize on in 2008..social media. I won’t say that the amount of followers or tend topics can be a clear indicator of who assured votes. But it could be used as an instrument to asses reaction to campaign propaganda, a litmus as to what a core fan base may stand, and also to capitalize the ability to mobilize voters. The numbers of Obama in comparison to the “front” runner of GOP campaign on social networks are clearly in favor of the president. No it does not guarantee votes ( new voting laws, age requirement) but we can gather there is an amount of public influence. Per haps opponents will look how to engage this tactic with the influx of more social media users being at an age to vote.
I agree! Thank you so much for your input! I am definitely going to pay close attention to social media in juxtaposition with political advances to access whether or not this will continue to be a progressive trend.