Digital Politics

Republicans, Democrats, Liberals, Conservatives, Independents, and politicians from all walks of life have established their presence in the digital landscape that is 2012. Anthony Miyazaki notes in his article (http://www.sensibleemarketing.com/2012/02/e-marketing-and-politics-how-true-is.html), of how the campaigning has transformed, from a time where you had to read about politics in newspapers and hear about it over the radio, sometimes weeks later. Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy held the first political debate on television, where more than 70 million U.S. viewers tuned in.

 

The evolution of technology has facilitated the communication for those in power and transformed society as we know it. As noted in Dragonflyeffect’s post on politics and social media (http://www.dragonflyeffect.com/blog/2012-elections-politics-social-media/), we can see that there have been movements in recent history that prove how influential the social space really is. The 99% formed an Occupy protest nationwide, where they would make their voice be heard to the 1% by occupying their spaces. The whole country as a whole coined the ideology and in essence, they proved their point. Accomplishing this was no easy task, but in a conjoined effort, were able to solidify a integrated communications plan that flooded social media (Facebook viral posts/sharing, Twitter hashtags/trends, YouTube viral videos) and spread instructions on how to start your own movement in your city.

 

With the overflow of information that we find online, the problem that we all face is whether to believe what we read. Every person is an author, a journalist, a blogger, some people have massive Twitter followings, or hits on their blogs, and may influence their readers no matter what type of nonsense they publish. This clutter of political ramble sometimes clouds our minds, and perceives us from the truth. Even the mainstream media tends to lean more towards the right or the left, and there is no impartial and unbiased channel or source. The naive and gullible will be victims of mass publicity, viral videos, social campaigns and ongoing discussion that is commonly influenced by the things we see online. Fortunately, we all have a right to also find credible sources. History doesn’t lie, so reading into our past may better help us make decisions in upcoming elections. In the end it all becomes a tale of believing candidates that make a lot of promises, with little proof that they will follow through on their promises.