Thomas A. Bryer (2013) contends that public participation in regulatory decision-making through the utilization of contemporary social media technologies may be more harmful than beneficial to democratization. Using the federal government’s official rulemaking and citizen participation portal, regulations.gov, Bryer analyzes citizen participation in the form of comments from three of the top five most-commented-on rules of 2009 (p. 264). Using Gormley’s categorization of regulatory issues based on the degree of issue complexity and salience, Bryer claims that the quality of the participants’ comments is predictable. Bryer further argues the regulations.gov may encourage public participation in developing regulations; however, the use of regulations.gov does not result in “more efficient and effective rulemaking” (p. 275). While Bryer’s study has merit, I found his research to be inconsistent and unconvincing. I propose two notable flaws in his work: the method does not produce a fair sample and the emerging themes are not supported with appropriate evidence.
Bryer used random sampling to select participants’ comments for analysis. While random sampling is an efficient method of research, Bryer’s problem lies within the distribution of the sample. In each case, a sample group was selected by beginning with the first comment received, with every 500th comment thereafter being selected for analysis. In the HHS case, the results of the sample revealed that the number of males compared to females was relatively low. In fact, Bryer (2013) points out the majority of the commenters were female in the HHS case (p. 272). The sample would have been more valid if it had included a higher number of males to accurately represent to en...
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...ests that there are unique challenges associated with public participation in government through social media; nonetheless, the existence of challenges does not equate abandonment.
On the whole, I found the validity of Bryer’s research to be inconsistent and disappointing. Bryer’s method needs to be re-evaluated, seeing that a fair sample of comments were not selected for analysis. Drawing conclusions from an unfair sample invalidates any argument or interpretation put for by the research. Furthermore, Bryer failed to produce consistent evidence to support the emerging themes of his research. As I’ve already pointed out, ideas presented in research must be supported with appropriate evidence. Although Bryer’s research was drawn upon an interesting topic, he succeeded in only producing a heavily opinionated work, as opposed to a meaningful scientific study.
Malcolm Gladwell’s article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not be Tweeted" raises a significant question about the prospective contribution of web-based social networking to the advent of progressive social movement and change. Gladwell bold declaration that "the revolution will not be tweeted" is reflective of his view that social media has no useful application in serious activism. Contrasting various elements of the “high-stakes” lunch-counter protests in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s with the “low-stakes” activism achieved through social media, Gladwell concludes that effective social movements powerful enough to impose change on longstanding societal forces require both “strong ties” among participants and the presence of a hierarchical organizations. In contrast, Gladwell characterizes the social networks as an interwoven web of "weak ties" that is inherently devoid of a hierarchy. Gladwell’s prerequisites for social movement are firmly based in strong body of sociological evidence, but his views regarding the nature of online social networks are laughably lacking in foresight and obstructed by a misleadingly selective body of evidence.
In Nicholas Carr’s article “How Social Media Is Ruining Politics”, Carr writes about the effects that social media has on politics. In his article, Carr focuses more on the negative effect that social media has when it comes to politics. Some points that he makes about social media include specific examples like the recent presidential campaigns, how other technological advances over the years have effected politics, and the effectiveness that social media has on politics
Malcolm Gladwell’s article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not be Tweeted" raises a significant question about the prospective contribution of web-based social networking to the advent of progressive social movement and change. Gladwell’s bold declaration that "the revolution will not be tweeted" is reflective of his view that social media has no useful application in serious activism. Contrasting various elements of the “high-stakes” lunch-counter protests in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s with the “low-stakes” activism achieved through social media, Gladwell concludes that effective social movements powerful enough to impose change on longstanding societal forces require both “strong ties” among participants and the presence of a hierarchical organizations. In contrast, Gladwell characterizes the social networks as an interwoven web of "weak ties" that is inherently devoid of a hierarchy. Gladwell’s prerequisites for social movement are firmly based in strong body of sociological evidence, but his views regarding the nature of online social networks are laughably lacking in foresight and obstructed by a misleadingly selective body of evidence.
If the founding fathers didn’t stand up for the things they believed in we would have never separated from Britain and established our own country. However, today it seems like retweeting a cause you believe in or watching the new makes people think they are politically active or active in a cause. For example, “These days, however, most Americans think that just sending out a tweet or a social media post counts as advocacy” (Schwartz 1). When in reality they never had to leave the comfort of there home to make this stand. But, studies do also show that the more active people on social media for a cause may actually be more likely to get involved with the cause even farther and take action. “ But while calling yourself an activist for sending out a supportive tweet seems a little lazy, there are indications in the study that social media posts do translate to more involved behavior”(Schwartz 1). Depending on perspectives mass media can either hurt or help people will to stand up for their
One of the properties that allow social media to be an attractive tool to use by politicians is the ability to attract a massive audience of users. The Pew Research Center suggests that there is a growing number of social media users. A whooping 73% of US adults use the internet (Social Networking Fact Sheet). These...
“Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell is an article published in the Annals of Innovation, by The New Yorker magazine. Gladwell starts with an example of true activism. He opens the article with a depiction of how the Greensboro sit-ins contributed to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Then the author supplies two examples of protests that have taken place in recent years that some people have said were started and organized on Twitter. He then goes on to clarify why Twitter was not a factor in these events and how media and government can distort certain truths about social media’s role in protests. The author continues the article by explaining why communication and relationships were more efficient before the era of social media and then compares social networking from the past and now. He uses this strategy to illustrate social media’s effect on how we interact and our commitment towards one another. Gladwell goes on to explain the organization of activist groups of the past and its
Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms have become one of the central activities in human affairs. Used by people around the world promoting communication, social media gives scope to everyone to exhibit their ideas and thoughts. The plethora of social platforms is a revolutionary invention that is changing the way of how people moderate and communicate with others in their daily lives. Although many people admire this revolutionary concept, it can be argued that it has a negative impact on society. Extensive usage of social media can cause addiction, affecting productivity, and also reduce the level of human interaction, which in turn leads to isolation. Social media is correlated to many of the issues that revolve feminism and mental illness through anthropology, sociology and psychology.
The public sphere has been falsely represented as a virtual place where one can share and debate opinions; ...
The father of quantitative analysis, Rene Descartes, thought that in order to know and understand something, you have to measure it (Kover, 2008). Quantitative research has two main types of sampling used, probabilistic and purposive. Probabilistic sampling is when there is equal chance of anyone within the studied population to be included. Purposive sampling is used when some benchmarks are used to replace the discrepancy among errors. The primary collection of data is from tests or standardized questionnaires, structured interviews, and closed-ended observational protocols. The secondary means for data collection includes official documents. In this study, the data is analyzed to test one or more expressed hypotheses. Descriptive and inferential analyses are the two types of data analysis used and advance from descriptive to inferential. The next step in the process is data interpretation, and the goal is to give meaning to the results in regards to the hypothesis the theory was derived from. Data interpretation techniques used are generalization, theory-driven, and interpretation of theory (Gelo, Braakmann, Benetka, 2008). The discussion should bring together findings and put them into context of the framework, guiding the study (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). The discussion should include an interpretation of the results; descriptions of themes, trends, and relationships; meanings of the results, and the limitations of the study. In the conclusion, one wants to end the study by providing a synopsis and final comments. It should include a summary of findings, recommendations, and future research (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). Deductive reasoning is used in studies...
The study consisted of a significant number of females compared to males, which makes it invalid to conclude that the findings support the general population. A strength was that participants were selected at random. By doing so, the study remained unbiased, thus making the results more credible.
While this initial stance kept politicians on the defensive, enough time has passed that individual politicians and even entire governments are starting to use social media to connect with their communities in new, open ways (Sniderman, 2011). However, as these social platforms are becoming more pervasive in society, studies of their influence on our lives has grown but have not kept pace with the use in government. Because social media is a relatively recent phenomenon, research on social media use in government is limited. Literature on the effectiveness of social media and government has increased but only in some areas. The purpose of this review is to understand governance through citizen engagement and provide a working context of the term social media. The literature review will provide a basis for what is known about the use of social media by government, in particular at the local level.
The main aim of this report is to analyze the impacts of changes in the media concerning the societal and individual view of politics and politicians. The report also describes significant milestones in mass media since the year 1960 and examines the impact of mass media on how people think politically. The report then considers the effect of technological advancements in mass media and the effect on the results of elections. The use of mass media has increased over the last fifty years in that it is a primary medium through which supporters of various campaigners share their ideas and views concerning politicians and different political parties. Through social media, behaviors and performance of several activists have brought
In today’s world, the media almost dominates society. No matter a station’s political affiliation or the conglomerates’ beliefs, a vast variety of topics are covered almost daily. Whether it’s breaking news, feature stories, or heart-warming cartoons, the audience is almost certain to tune into any news station and learn about what is going on in the world, and e-democracy falls under that category. When it comes to anything that concerns the government, there is going to be media coverage, especially if it involves scandal or court cases. Stories vary in importance and depth, but overall they give us insight into certain topics. CNN’s Dan Caterinicchia offered the people a look at what E-Democracy is and how a man from Minnesota lobbied to make e-democracy easier by using an e-mailing list as well as an online public forum. According to Caterinicchia (1999), Minnesota e-democracy Chairman, Steven Clift, believes that such a practice would make E-Democracy an...
The researchers present findings that indicate that a politician’s popularity in the voting booth may be related to the frequency with which the candidate is talked about on social media. The researchers goes on to discuss how further research may conclude that social media has a bigger impact on voting outcomes than traditional forms of media, and how that could potentially shape the future of voting.
The future of the United States government, policy structure, and elections will evolve around the emerging social media. How well politicians and government officials use the technology could shape the policies of our country.