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Hayley Reynolds
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
February 9, 2015
Hash-tags for Politics
Introduction/Overview
I will be researching how technology affects the way the Millennial generation connects
with politics. More than a third of voters said they followed candidates or political groups on
Facebook and Twitter to feel more personally connected to them, according to Claire Cain

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Miller. The millennial generation consists of people who were born between the 1980 and the
early 2000s. This generation is known for their use of technology to deal with subject matters
such as politics. Millennials connect with society through things like Twitter, Facebook, and
Instagram..
There have also been several studies done to see what teenagers do with their technology.

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For example, the survey done by Michael Xenos of the University of Wisconsin, Ariadne
Vromen of the University of Sydney, and Brian D. Loader of the University of York studied
political engagement among young people in the United States, Australia and Great Britain.
They surveyed a representative sample of people aged 16 to 29 in each country, asking about
social media use and acts of civic and political engagement. (They did not ask about voting.) In
their study published in Information, Communication & Society, they write, We find a strong,
significant, and robust positive relationship between social media use and political engagement,
Jenny Shank a researcher for the Information, Communication & Society. this interests me,
because this is my generation, and I believe that technology can be used by teenagers for more

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than what it has been used for in past. Almost 50 percent of social network users between the
ages of 18 and 29 polled by Pew declared they had used social media to discover their friends'
political interests or affiliations, to receive campaign information, to sign up as a "friend" of a
candidate, or to join or start a political group, claims Matthew R. Auer. This statistic means that
this generation uses social media to be informed not just socially but politically. There have also
been several studies done to see what teenagers do with their technology.
In the beginning of my search for a topic, I spoke to Professor Campbell and asked for
some guidance. He then directed me to the UNCCs Library database, because I was having
trouble finding reliable sources. In my research I looked at multiple articles and websites. The
articles I used were found by using UNCCs Library database, and the articles that helped me the
most were Bill Moyers Journal: new media, religion, and their impact on elections and The
Policy Sciences of Social Media Auer, Matthew R. I also used websites like Nation Swell and
The New York Times. I have not asked any questions of anyone involved in the political field.
Many people believe that social media and technology is ruining the way this generation
will interact with society, and that they wont have good face to face communication or skills or
that it will cause depression. Catalin Zorzini believes that technology is dumbing our generation
that of 25 and younger down, in areas as grammar and basic math. Yet I believe that technology
is what helps people advance in todays society and that you can become a good citizen and or
politically active individual simply by using the Internet. The New York Times and other
creditable sources support the idea that social media can positively influence the political world.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

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Does social media enhance an individuals connection to the political world in the
millennial generation, or would they be just as knowledgeable and active without it? Does what
social media says the general population want, influence politicians?

My Interest in this Topic

I am interested in this topic because, as a child I was active in political campaigns. I eventually
even volunteered for the Wilmington GOP during election season. Social media is also a big part
of my life, and this generation as a whole. It seems as time goes on there is nothing that you can
learn about, with the help of the internet. I myself used twitter to follow several political groups
such as the GOP, Mitt Romney, and even our president Barak Obama. The reason I did this was
to stay connected to what was going on and to try to personally connect to what they had to say.
Even though I wasnt able to vote I still tried to persuade the people who followed me to vote the
way I wish I could. I believe that we are a generation more open to discussion about who we vote
for and where is better to discuss that then a place were millions of people can see it?
1. What do you already know?
a. Social media is a big part of this generation.
b. Millennial are more open to political discussion.
c. That surveys are done to see how people are going to vote.
2. What do you hope to learn?
a. How social media predicts campaign outcomes.
b. What percent of people voted a specific way due to social media?
c. In what ways do politics use social media.
d. What technology is used to reach teenagers?

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e. How will the process of voting change because of technology in the future.
f. Does technology really affect the way people communicate or just enhance
it in a different way?

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Next Steps
I will go to my Political Science professors and seek help on my topic. Hopefully asking
them questions will then give me more guidance for my research. I will continue to use the
librarys database in search for articles regarding the topic of technology and politics. Plus I will
also visit creditable sources such as New York Times.

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