Social Media Influence On Election Essay

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The 2008 presidential election was historic. The United States elected its first African-American president and the use of the internet and social media greatly influenced the way elections played out for the first time in history. This election set a precedent for the way politicians could use social media to reach out to voters who they may not otherwise have a connection with. Mass media and social media changed the way elections played out by increasing voter intelligence, encouraging young people and people of color to vote, and spreading propaganda via the internet. With more access to information online and on TV, voters became more informed about issues facing America and learned more about the nominees. 46% of Americans used social media to discuss politics and 50% shared political news and …show more content…

This was partly due to social media and mass media encouraging people to vote in the election. President Obama won 70% of voters under the age of 25 in the 2008 election. 23 million eligible millennials- people born from 1984 to 2003 voted in the 2008 election. This was a significant increase from the 2004 election, where only 3.4 million young people voted. (Hais, Winograd, 2011) While this may be partly due to millennials embracing the more liberal environment, it can also be traced back to the rise of social media in politics. 65.2% of black people voted in the election. The majority of black voters supported Obama, with 95% of them voting for him. (Lopez, Taylor 2009) Young black voters had the highest voter turnout, compared to all other ethnic groups, with 55.4%. (Roberts 2009) Barack Obama was able to efficiently reach out to people of color and show them that he was going to represent them if elected as president. Social media greatly increased the number of voters from young people and people of

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