The 2016 US Election and Social Media

Social Media in the Top Ten Websites.....

Popular social medias include Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter which are ranked in the top ten websites worldwide (Boulianne, 2015).

This is why Social media.....

Social Media are websites and online tools that allow users to interact with each other through sharing, and discussing opinions and interests (Khan, Swar and Lee, 2014). Focusing specifically on Facebook, researchers found that 35% internet users uses Facebook in 2008 and in 2013 it had increased to 72% (Boulianne). As a result, social media has become an important intermediary for interactions between individuals, businesses and governments. Due to its distinct characteristics of openness, participation and sharing, social media has allowed information to be shared more effectively (Khan, Swar and Lee, 2014). People are becoming more reliant on social media for information. Research shows that half of Facebook users receive news through Facebook and these news are more influential as it has been filtered through friends and family.

A Unique Research......

According to Ipsos Mori, 18 to 24 year olds are more impacted by social media (as cited in Green, 2015). 34% of them say that reading something on social media influences their votes (Green).

Utilization and Manipulation of Social Media

Social Media Actually helps election campaigns!

Social media has changed how presidential candidates and businesses channel their information down to the public. Joe Trippi, the campaign advertiser for former vice president Walter Mondale and Senator Ted Kennedy, describes that contrary to traditional media such as TV, social media has empowered ordinary people to easily voice their opinions to millions around the globe (Patterson, 2016). Therefore, candidates and businesses have to carefully utilize social media to ensure a positive response while promoting their campaign or products. For example, some democrats use social media to appeal to the masses emotionally such as Hillary Clinton’s posts of family photos on Pinterest to make herself seem more relatable and humane (Brousell, 2015). Another example is Nike sharing on Instagram to create brand awareness and induce brand image. On the other hand, some candidates are utilizing social media to degrade, attack and judge their competition. Social media has made it into a competition to see which campaign will drive the other’s negative rating higher (Patterson, 2016). Candidates may also manipulate social media to support their campaign. For example, altering the number of followers and responses can affect a viewer’s conclusion about the candidate’s popularity (Metaxas and Mustafaraj, 2012). Therefore, the most popular candidate will have an advantage, since people tend to conform (McLeod, 2016). Even though such popularity may not all be positive, a correlation between popularity and the election stand. Below is the data on number of followers of the top four candidates and current election results. Trump and Clinton being most popular are each leading the votes in their party.

Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2016/mar/25/us-election-2016-delegate-tracker-trump-cruz-kasich-sanders-clinton
Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2016/03/25/why-bernie-sanderss-social-media-followers-are-more-engaged-than-donald-trumps/#16ecd9ed67be

This is similar with businesses where popularity can be created. However, businesses can make many decisions based on various popularity. For example, Nike can determine the number of products to produce based on its popularity on social media. Therefore, social media is a very important tool to politicians and businesses.

Here is some data on the amount of followers each candidate has. As you can see Clinton and Trump is leading in terms of overall amount of followers.

Below are the data gathered approximately two months after the above information. Nonetheless, Trump and Clinton are leading in overall amount of followers.

Social Media Disadvantages

Social media is not only about the perks from expansion and connection. There are some disadvantages:

• Time intensive
• Long term relationships with customers take time to build and maintain
• Intrusion of Privacy
• Directed advertisements require the collection of user information from social media
• Lack of control over feedback
• Users of social media are free to post offensive images or negative reviews about the company

For more detailed information go here:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-using-social-networks-marketing-tools-20861.html

Bibliography

Abrons, R. The Disadvantages of Using Social Networks as Marketing Tools. Smallbusiness.chron.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-using-social-networks-marketing-tools-20861.html

Boulianne, S. (2015). Social media use and participation: a meta-analysis of current research.Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524-538. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2015.1008542

Brousell, L. (2016). Why social media could swing the 2016 presidential election. CIO. Retrieved 29 March 2016, from http://www.cio.com/article/2976083/social-networking/why-social-media-could-swing-the-2016-presidential-election.html

Green, R. (2016). The Game Changer: Social Media and the 2016 Presidential Election. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 29 March 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/the-game-changer-social-m_b_8568432.html

Khan, G., Swar, B., & Lee, S. (2014). Social Media Risks and Benefits: A Public Sector Perspective.Social Science Computer Review, 32(5), 606-627. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0894439314524701

Metaxas, P., & Mustafaraj, E. (2012). Social Media and the Elections. Science, 338(6106), 472-473. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1230456

Patterson, D. (2016). Election Tech: How social media and big data changed everything, a Q&A with Joe Trippi - TechRepublic. TechRepublic. Retrieved 29 March 2016, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/election-tech-2016-how-social-media-and-big-data-have-changed-everything-a-q-a-with-joe-trippi/

Roesler, P. (2014). 5 Benefits of Social Media Business Owners Need to Understand. Inc.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016, from http://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/5-benefits-of-social-media-business-owners-need-to-understand.html

Whitten, S. (2015). Can 140 characters affect the 2016 presidential election?. CNBC. Retrieved 29 March 2016, from http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/05/can-140-characters-affect-the-2016-presidential-election.html