Swipe, share, comment, it’s never been easier to invoke the First Amendment than it is now. With social media at everyone’s fingertips, the election process looks different than it used to. This Tuesday, Nov. 5, citizens will be going to the polls and cast their vote towards the leadership of this country.
With presidential elections being right around the corner, and both Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump having social media platforms, how will it affect this year’s results? The entire country is watching both candidates extremely closely with the election on the horizon. One way to view both political figures is through social media. Government teacher Emma Hollman gives her opinion on candidates being active on social media.
“I think it can be beneficial,” Hollman. “I think it all comes down to how candidates choose to use it, so it’s kind of up to them if it’s more of a positive or negative light. I think for the most part it’s beneficial because it helps people connect with them in a kind of similar way that any public figure or celebrity does. It’s a good way for people to stay up-to-date with what candidates are doing and their policies because it’s an easy way to post and get information out to them.”
Hollman also gave her view on how social media platforms affect our views towards our political candidates.
“I honestly think it can have a pretty heavy impact on how we view political candidates, whether for president or for another office,” Hollman said. “Especially I think what celebrities say about politics and political candidates can have a lot of weight. I think whenever celebrities choose to publicly endorse one candidate over another, it doesn’t necessarily have as much impact as I think. I feel like people think it does, a lot of people I think are coming to the realization that celebrities are kind of detached from the rest of society. So, people don’t regard them as heavily. I feel like celebrities might think that they do, because people are starting to understand how detached they are from the ‘typical American.’”
Similar to Hollman, AP Government teacher Dan Marsh spoke his thoughts on how political candidates use social media and if it should be involved less.
“It goes back to James Madison and it goes back to Federalist Number 10: ‘Air is to fire what Liberty is to factions’,” Marsh said. “If we are going to allow for liberty to exist, political parties are always going to exist. If we start to squash what social media is doing, we are now squashing liberty. We, as a culture, have from the very beginning embraced a First Amendment freedom of speech concept, so much so that it’s embedded into us and sometimes we use it incorrectly. We’re so ingrained that I should be able to say what I want when I want even if it violates a company’s policy. We believe that we’ve got the right to say what we want to say when we want to say it on any platform possible.
In 1787, the constitution was written with some sole ideas about America and how it should work. One of these sole ideas was everyone having the right to the freedom of speech and press, and with social media now involved in politics Americans find it much easier to spread their opinions and thoughts.
“I think if we start limiting social media, we are then one step towards the next form of speech. So does that mean we now go after the radio? Does that mean we now go after the newspapers, the TV? What’s the next thing we say, hey, we can’t allow that to be said on the TV because it’s too influential in politics?” Marsh said. “So, even though I think there are definitely dangers of social media involved in presidential elections, you can’t squash that danger. We can’t force everybody to have the same political views. We can’t squash liberty because then all we’re doing is going back to the tyrannical government that we fought against in the revolution.”
Marsh also spoke his personal opinion on how the voting system could be better, along with each candidates’ personal usage of platforms.
“I believe we should have a national ballot so that every state, every county, the ballot looks the exact same,” Marsh said. “Canada does this, and it creates a much more uniform process compared to how our elections are in the United States. The more people that are on ballots, the less likely we are to vote. I also think one thing that could be addressed that would really help our voting isn’t so much the process of voting, but how our political district maps are created. If you look at Minnesota, for example, their district maps are drawn not by political partisan elements, but by the state, an independent commission made up of both Democrats and Republicans and they look solely at population.”
Marsh also shared how the state of Minnesota votes and how it differs from the other 49 states. “They’re not looking at socioeconomic [status], they’re not looking at gender, they’re not looking at race and all those other factors that you can start to look at the data and create lines to benefit your political party. They’re dealing with the same issue. It’s just different from state to state depending upon what that political party’s power is in that state. If they can control it, they’re going to do things to keep themselves in power, and that’s just human nature. You need to use social media. It’s a great tool. It’s a dangerous one if you’re not using it correctly, but it’s also a great tool in terms of being accessible to the content. By doing so, one, it keeps you more informed on the entire picture, but it also allows me as a teacher to show two different sides or three different sides of arguments in the classroom. We’ve gone away from facts and have allowed ourselves to let our opinions be our driving force and our political conversations, as well as that, losing respect for the other person.”
Both Hollman and Marsh spoke on what they wish they knew sooner relating to voting, hoping that this information is known amongst this generation. Hollman spoke of the fact that she wished she knew sooner.
“I see a lot of Americans in general that I wish they knew sooner is the primary process and how that works,” Hollman said. “It does vary across different states, so it’s really important to see what the process is in your state and how you can be a part of that. It is a crucial step prior to the general election that voter turnout is not always great for. It’s really important for people to also vote in the primary because that determines who you get to vote for in the general election. The beginning steps of the entire election process and makes a big difference.”
Marsh spoke about how much financial power goes into politics, even without the average American being aware of it.
“I wish I knew then was how much money plays in politics,” Marsh said. “And following that dollar gets a better understanding of decisions that are being made, which I don’t know if that really answers the question about voting, but I think it does answer the question about knowing more about the world of politics and what happens in America.”
Statistically, a lot of social media’s users are below the age of voting in the United States of America. Hollman and Marsh both spoke on why you should be involved in politics even if you can’t vote.
“But the bottom line fact is what happens in this 2024 election, whether it’s in the White House and the United States House and Senate or if it’s in the State House up in Indianapolis or if it’s in the city county buildings, they’re going to affect your life for the next two to four years,” Marsh said. “So even if you can’t vote right now, being engaged in politics is going to let you know what this person has done while you weren’t able to vote. And now you can vote, is that who you want in those offices? Have their actions impacted your life in a positive or negative way? Just because you can’t vote doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be actively engaged, I think that’s a big part of it. If your parents took you to vote and were talking about politics, even if it’s just a general conversation at the dinner table, you’re more likely to get yourself engaged in politics as well.”
Along with Marsh, Hollman agreed with him on the subject, adding a few thoughts of her own.
“One hundred percent, because even if you can’t vote yet, you can still influence people that do,” Hollman said. “Then I think that gears you up and gets you ready for voting when you’re at that age. It is very crucial to get involved, understand policies, learn what you support and don’t support, as early as you can so you’re ready and excited to participate when you have the opportunity.”
While most teenagers can’t vote, they are still heavily involved in an online world of social media. Platforms like these provide a constant stream of entertainment and information which they are subconsciously consuming. It affects the way we think, talk, and act.
“I generally like to try and stay away from social media because I know that it can be swayed one way or swayed another so I try not to listen to it,” senior Eli Psota said.
Even with his knowledge of social media’s bias he still admits to falling down political rabbit holes from time to time. Although social media sites provide many Americans with news, not everything they hear will be accurate.
“Every single piece of media is biased in some way or another, whether you want to believe that or whether you want to acknowledge that. Every single piece of media or news you consume is biased in one way,” academic coach Evan Kuhn said.
Accurate or not, it has a huge impact on the world of politics.
“In these last several election cycles, freedom of speech has been at the forefront where you can say whatever you want to an extent,” Kuhn said. “And so I can go out there and can I make a story up about a candidate and people view that as truth in gospel?”
Since social media’s rise in popularity in the early 2000s it has had an impact on voters, and keeping people up to date with news is only part of it. Humanizing politicians has been a strategy used for years by political campaigns. Showcasing their family, doing personal interviews, and letting them shake hands with average people are some of the strategies previously used. With the invention of social media political candidates are more easily seen as people.
“It all comes down to how candidates choose to use it. It’s kind of up to them if it’s more of a positive or negative light,” Hollman said. “For the most part, it’s beneficial because it helps people connect with them in a kind of similar way that any public figure or celebrity does.”
Despite the spread of misinformation, social media can also motivate people to vote and provide teenagers with an outlet to get involved in the election.
“It’s important to vote because we were given a right to vote and I think you should be able to practice your right,” Psota said. “It’s your right to do it, and we can do it and some people can’t, so I think you should if you can.”
Even if students are unable to vote there are ways for them to participate in the election.
“You can volunteer,” Kuhn said. “I know, there are grassroots organizations where you can volunteer, and you can get your parents and people whose friends you have who are 18 can vote, get them involved, and encourage them in the electoral process.”
Social media’s impact on the election has been substantial and created a voting environment with different problems than other elections. However, it has also created a generation of more educated, involved individuals.
“Social media is an ever-changing environment of politics, it’s not going anywhere,” Marsh said. “It gives us a connection, it allows for our politicians to directly interact with us as constituents, as human beings in this country.”
