The Epidemic of Social Media and Politics in the United States
By: Alexis Hansson
Tags: Politics, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Social Media, 2020 Presidential Race

It’s election day and you’re walking up to the polls to wait in line. As you enter the voting booth you see the long list of candidates in front of you, and you start to wonder if you are making the right choice. You reluctantly choose the candidate that you have seen more of on social media and go on with your day. This is the problem. Too many people go to the polls uninformed or not informed enough when they cast their vote. Others will vote for candidates based on what they see on social media by just assuming what they saw is the truth. Social media has been flooded with political satire, fake news, and slander towards all of the candidates running which is why it is extremely important to be aware of it. Having the ability to participate in an election in the United States of America is such a powerful thing, especially in the year 2020. This year marks the 100th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote in this country which displays that voting is not only a privilege, but a right to the citizens of the United States. The act of voting should be taken extremely seriously because every vote matters, but at times it can be challenging to choose the candidate that you believe will do the best job for the American people. In today’s day and age every social media platform imaginable is filled with political news which can be unavoidable. The problem with this is that opinions can be mixed in and passed off as facts. This creates a never ending cycle of spreading fake news about the candidates in the running which may alter the viewpoint of someone at the voting booth.

Information on social media can spread faster than ever which leaves room for error when the wrong information is being spread all over the world in minutes. This is especially important to keep in mind when political information or news is being spread on social media platforms. It is often hard to tell which news is real and which is fake which can drastically increase the spread of false information on various platforms. Some information can even be spread from platform to platform which can alter what is being spread even further to inevitably create a mess full of rumors and false information which is being portrayed as the truth. The cycle of this would go on and on even if the original statement was true, but in the end after being shared and altered so many times the original information is often not true at all anymore, and can even be used as propaganda to harm political figures with opposing views. When it comes to spreading political information or news on social media it is important to be aware of what is being read which is why change needs to be made on these platforms in order to decrease political polarization, the spread of fake news, and address the effects that social media has had on the 2020 election to ensure that it is being utilized in a positive way in the future.

Social media is often to blame when it comes to magnifying and worsening political polarization. People are often prevented from viewing information that goes against their strong, preexisting beliefs in something called an “echo chamber”. These “echo chambers” spread information that agrees with one’s beliefs far more than the opposing which can create misconceptions about certain political topics of discussion that are going on in the world. Political polarization can easily be increased on social media which is potentially very dangerous. This idea has become such a focus for social scientists in the past few decades that several experiments have been performed to get a read on political polarization as a whole. In a recent study, a large sample of Democrats and Republics were surveyed. The requirements for them to be included in the study were that they must already utilize Twitter at least three times a week to view a range of social policy issues. Those chosen were then told to intentionally follow bot accounts that have retweeted tweets from elected officials, political leaders, opinion leaders, etc. that expressed views that they would normally oppose. After following the liberal Twitter bots, the results concluded that the Republican participants were viewing more conservative tweets on their feed than before. The same results occurred for the Democratic participants who followed the conservative bots. They were being shown more tweets on their feed that they agree with despite the fact that they followed bots with their opposing views.

Political polarization is worsening every day and affecting major issues. “Americans are deeply divided on controversial issues such as inequality, gun control, and immigration-and divisions about such issues have become increasingly aligned with partisan identities in recent years” (Bail et al.). Those who are divided on issues such as these tend to side with one political party. For example, someone who is pro gun control is stereotyped to be a democrat or a liberal while someone who is against gun control may be seen as a republican or a conservative. Some may stray from their political parties ideas to help form their own, but this is rare in a world with political polarization, especially on social media. (Bail et al.)

Twitter is one of the most popular social media sources in the world, especially for spreading political news. Many political figures spend their time on Twitter more than any other social media platform as well. Both republican and democratic politicians can be found expressing their beliefs on the platform, but there are slightly more democratic “tweeters” than republican. This also raises the questions of how republicans utilize social media platforms such as Twitter compared to democrats. It has been found that popular politicians are primarily followed on Twitter by those who identify with the same party as them, but the popular celebrity accounts tend to have a mix between followers in the U.S. adults that identify as either democratic or republican. However, this is different when it comes to the two most followed political figures by adults on the platform. “Former President Barack Obama (@BarackObama) is followed by 42% of Democrats but just 12% of Republicans, while President Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) is followed by 35% of Republicans and just 13% of Democrats” (“How Democrats and Republicans Use Twitter”). This is just an excellent example of how social media can affect one’s views on major topics. Being that it is very common to follow politicians that have the same views as you, it is just as important to follow those with opposing views so that an unfair bias is prevented. Democrats who follow Former President Barack Obama, but not President Donald Trump may have a bias towards things that the president is dealing with in office, but they have only seen one side of it on Twitter. The same problem would occur if the roles were reversed if a republican were to follow President Trump and not Former President Obama. They would only see the ideas from one party’s side which is not beneficial compared to viewing the opinions of politicians from both major political parties on the same platform. The one thing that both major political parties have in common when using this platform is that the users tend to be on the younger end and have a higher education than the members who do not use Twitter. This is interesting because it shows the type of audience that would be taking in the news that is being shared on social media that deals with the political agenda. (“How Democrats and Republicans Use Twitter”)

The media is a very powerful tool which can aid a politicians agenda immensely in the time of need. Being that social media is an easily accessible tool, politicians and political figures utilize it now more than ever to help share their opinions. The problem with this is that many will believe any news that they see on social media depending on where they get their news from. An example of this is when a doctor gets information regarding medical advice from scientific sources that have been validated and peer reviewed while the patient may have looked on WebMD and are trying to diagnose themselves to the doctor because they saw it on the internet. The same thing happens on social media because of the power that it holds. It all depends on whether or not you view social media as a news source or not. Fake news is spread on every social media platform, and a main topic of discussion is the current Covid-19 pandemic. At the time this article was written over 150,000 Americans have died from the virus which results in the concern of those who are underestimating the danger of the coronavirus infection every day. Coronavirus has transformed from a sickness into a political issue as well which creates a plethora of fake news being shared constantly which means that many will be exposed to false accusations about the deadly virus rather than the truth. Misinformation during the pandemic is extremely dangerous and can create more fear and worry than is already warranted. (Escalante)

The spread of fake news and misinformation on social media can substantially influence those who view it, and especially with young consumers. Social media is utilized by people of all ages, but is most popular with the younger generations such as those in the Gen Z age group (currently 7–22 years old) along with the younger half of the millennials (currently 23–38). Almost everything that is being marketed on social media is being marketed to target the teenage audience regardless of what it is. Whether it be innocent things such as clothing or sports news to drastic and important information such as political news and major news stories that are circling the media. People portray their news to look like it is credible and real so that the teenagers who are viewing it will pass it along and naturally repost, retweet, or share the information with their friends which creates a never ending cycle of spreading fake news. This is exactly what the marketers wanted. (Duffett)

Political bias is a serious issue that could greatly harm the political campaigns for mayors, governors, congress, or even for the presidential election. It has been discovered that almost three quarters of the political tweets on social media all disapprove of President Trump And these tweets consist of only 6% of the adults in the US that are using Twitter. A large number of tweets that are one-sided from such a small percentage of a specific group of people is quite shocking, and can influence the younger viewers on the platform. One of the most important things that adults who will partake in political activities such as voting is to inform themselves with credible information on certain topics so that they can form their own strong opinions rather than just agreeing with the same thing as everyone else. It is beneficial to steer away from the trends so that personal opinions can be formed. There is nothing wrong with expressing political opinions online, but there are some problems that come along with that. Some may view opinions to be factual which is not always the case. Because of this, people may argue opinions and say that they are wrong, or they will use the opinions as their “research” when forming their own opinions as well. The upside is that a majority of the U.S. Twitter users can agree that “Most (57%) believe any news they see on social media is ‘largely inaccurate.’” (Perez) The downside to this is that there is still a large percentage of Twitter users that will believe the inaccuracies that they see because they assume that they are reading the truth. (Perez)

The 2020 Presidential Election has been subject to the horrors of social media more than ever before. With the coronavirus pandemic keeping many at home the amount of social media users has drastically increased because it became a way to make the time go by since many could not or did not leave their homes much (if at all) for several weeks. With many at home during an election year, more people than ever have been following politics more than they would in the past due to the abundance of free time that had been created for a great amount of the American people. This allowed for social media to have the power to shape the presidential campaigns in the 2020 election. Campaigning for any political position is both extremely expensive and time consuming, but now with social media it has become easier and less expensive to reach their intended audience to communicate what they plan on doing in the future. “‘You don’t have to have the big money, big bucks, bug fundraisers, big supporters to be able to communicate on Twitter with your constituency and tell them about what your ideas are for the future,’ Yildirim noted.” (“How Social Media Is Shaping Political Campaigns”) A politician can start from nothing and begin to communicate on social media to expand their platform along with gaining many supporters. The truth is that you can learn a lot about a politician by the way they carry themselves, by what their values are, and even with something as simple as their favorite hobby just as you would be able to with any ordinary individual. This is the beauty of social media and how it can greatly shape the campaigns of those involved, as long as everything said is accurate of course. (“How Social Media Is Shaping Political Campaigns”)

There are theories that suggest that social media plays a noteworthy role when it comes to learning about politics in modern day which means that it is important to be weary of what you post along with what you are viewing on social media. The role of social media when it comes to politics has expanded in the past decade which creates even more of an importance because it is relevant when it comes to spreading news today. (Bode) With that being said, I have created a solution that would not only change the way social media is utilized when fake news is spreading, but also help to create users that are more thoughtful of what they post and be willing to do their research to decrease ignorance of certain topics. I propose that there be a software that is put in place that can scan information with key words that would be better than what is out there today. This software would be able to scan for keywords that would link to a variety of sources that would contain information pertaining to that particular topic rather than fact checking with little to no information included on the post about the fact check itself. The main difference here would be that the information can be scanned prior to the post being released on social media. The individuals that are deciding to post would be shown the information regarding their post if it is suspected to be false so that they can inform themselves because it may have been an innocent post where they just didn’t know what they were posting was false. This would create a sense of awareness much earlier in the process.

My solution would be effective due to the fact that the software would be working before the information has the ability to be shared within minutes with no knowledge of it being true or not. The great thing about this software would be that it could be used for more than just political information. The possibilities are endless, but one may argue that this solution has some flaws, and with that I would agree. With any new idea there are always flaws amid the process, but with time and dedication to the project I have complete faith that this project will be able to be utilized in a way that would be beneficial for all. The thing about my proposal is that it is meant to inform the individual that is posting said information, and they would still have the option to post it even if their post had been flagged before they sent it. Some may not care whether the info is fully true or not which is why it would be important that the part of the post that was flagged will include both a warning and the links to look more into the topic. Instagram has a similar feature, but I feel that my proposal would be able to both enhance that preexisting feature and create this feature on all platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The downside is that it would take a long time to create and fix all of the bugs that are included in the beginning stages so there would need to be something temporary that would be in its place for the time being.

In the meantime, it would still be important to keep the social media users informed which is why there are plenty of resources out there to help those who are utilizing social media during events such as the 2020 election. You could take drastic measures and stay away from social media months before the election, but for many social media has become part of an everyday life activity which would make that not feasible for some. In order to be realistic about it, one of the most important things that one can do on social media during an election is to stop sharing politics. You have to think about what you’re posting and take into consideration who your audience is. If you are a Republican, but have many Democratic friends do you really think that your post will change their opinions that they have had for years? Probably not which is why it is best to stay away from sharing/posting about politics. It is also important to make sure to not believe everything that you see…even if it comes from what seems like a reliable politician on Twitter. They are entitled to their own opinions the same as you are which means that not everything they post will be purely factual. As long as you take these things into consideration you are likely to not be influenced by all of the fake news and propaganda that are out there. (Stern)

It is extremely important to be conscious of what is being displayed on all social media platforms when it comes to spreading political information or news because of the reform that has yet to be made. Political polarization, fake news, and the effects that social media has had on the 2020 election are all topics that need to be addressed and changed for the better in the near future in order to ensure that news is being utilized in a positive way in the future. I appreciate you taking the time to learn about the problems that are involved in spreading political information on social media platforms, and I hope that you will take my proposal into consideration so that it can be utilized very soon!

Works Cited

Bail, Christopher A., et al. “Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization.” PNAS, 11 September 2018, https://www.pnas.org/content/115/37/9216?mod=article_inline. Accessed 7 November 2020.

Bode, Leticia. “Political News in the News Feed: Learning Politics from Social Media.” Taylor & Francis, 26 June 2015, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15205436.2015.1045149. Accessed 7 November 2020.

Duffett, Rodney Graeme. “Influence of social media marketing communications on young consumers’ attitudes.” Young Consumers, 18 April 2017, https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/YC-07-2016-00622/full/html. Accessed 21 November 2020.

Escalante, Alison. “Research Finds Social Media Users Are More Likely To Believe Fake News.” Forbes, 3 August 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisonescalante/2020/08/03/research-finds-social-media-users-are-more-likely-to-believe-fake-news/?sh=493037fe8657. Accessed 7 November 2020.

“How Democrats and Republicans Use Twitter.” Pew Research Center — U.S. Politics & Policy, 15 October 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/10/15/differences-in-how-democrats-and-republicans-behave-on-twitter/. Accessed 7 November 2020.

“How Social Media Is Shaping Political Campaigns.” Knowledge@Wharton, 17 August 2020, https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-social-media-is-shaping-political-campaigns/. Accessed 21 November 2020.

Perez, Sarah. “Just 6% of US adults on Twitter account for 73% of political tweets…and they disapprove of Trump.” TechCrunch, 23 October 2020, https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/23/just-6-of-u-s-adults-on-twitter-account-for-73-of-political-tweets-and-they-disapprove-of-trump/?guccounter=1. Accessed 7 November 2020.

Stern, Joanna. “How to Use (or Not Use) Social Media During the 2020 Election.” The Wall Street Journal, 2 November 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-use-or-not-use-social-media-this-week-11604320273. Accessed 21 November 2020.