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Breanna Floyd
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
November 9, 2015
Social Media and the Influence is has on Political Elections
Social media has not always been the go to for campaigning. Previous generations had to
use the TV, radio and politicians had to speak to people in person to get their ideas to the public.
Now getting information out is at the tip of every politicians finger. Literally, all they have to do
is type on Twitter or Facebook and their campaign is out there for the public to see. Candidates
have a team now for social media. They can take care of everything for the candidate.
A candidates team hires people to make Google Bombs which take a series of words
and make the search come up with a candidate running against theirs. For example, if the quote
miserable failure is searched, pages about George W. Bush come up. (Metaxas 1) I never knew
there was such a thing so this completely shocked me. Google has recently made it nearly
impossible for Google bombs to be made for politicians. It is hoped that Google has
permanently put a stop to them. Candidates teams didnt just quit when they couldnt make
Google Bombs,, now they found a way to make Twitter Bombs. It is the same thing as
Google but it happens in Twitter. Political scammers make fake Twitter accounts and send as
many tweets as possible before Twitter blocks them. These hackers have found a way to track
Twitter users who recently tweeted about politics or elections and the hackers target them to try
to persuade them. (Metaxas 1) Since two out of three people in the United States are on social
media, that means these hackers can get to a large number of people and fast. Its almost a dirty

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way to get votes because everyone slanders the other persons name for everyone to see. Before
social media if someone said something to slander anothers name, it was known who said it.
Now campaign workers can post anonymously or even under a fake account.
Even though two out of three people are on social media that doesnt mean everyone
votes. An article in The Washington Post showed that a study found that 41% of young adults
have shared some type of political election video or made an online group. Those 41% of young
adults are more likely to vote in elections. In 2014, 21.5% of young adults voted in the election.
(Levine 2) Considering how many young people that are on social media, 21.5% is a low amount
of them voting. If the people who vote based on social media, some vote based on the number of
followers a candidate has. People might think just because one has more likes or followers
they are the better choice. That is not the case at all. A candidates social media team can easily
alter their numbers and make it seem as though they are the better choice. With so many people
on social media, if those people would take the time to actually read about the candidates and
their platforms, voting would be based on ideas, not Facebook followers.
Also the article said, Young people who are on track to economic success are much
more likely to participate politically than those who are struggling. (Levine 2) It is
disappointing that this quote is even true. Everyone should participate politically whether one is
successful or struggling because everyone here has the right to vote. Everyone should because
that is their voice being heard. Too many people do not participate and keep involved with
elections. If that quote is true then those who are struggling should vote because they can get
help from the government. With the right person in office, help could be offered to change
situations.

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Even though social media is taking off with political elections, that does not mean
politicians should abandon the old ways. Social media sites will forever change the political
landscape, but they will not spell the end of politics as we know it. (Garecht 3) A candidate
should not completely forget about the other ways to campaign, but he should combine social
media with it. The campaigns that best integrate their communications strategies as whole,
including TV, radio, direct mail, print, Internet, e-mail, and social networks will be the
campaigns that reap the biggest rewards from tools like Facebook and Twitter. (Garecht 3)
Combining all of them will ensure that their campaign is reached by almost everyone. The older
generation is more than likely not on Facebook or Twitter so if a candidate puts everything on
social media, they will not see it. Also not everyone has a computer so those people wouldnt see
anything either. Then there is the opposite. Someone who surrounds their lives with social media
might not watch TV or listen to the radio. If a candidate doesnt put anything online then that
person might not read it. A balance of all methods of campaigning would be the best option.
It is said that Obama won the social media battle in the 2012 presidential election. Just as
President John F Kennedy won the election by using the TV, Obama did the same but with social
media. To promote Barack Obama on Facebook, his campaign spent over $643,000 out of the
$16 million Internet budget. (Abid 4) That is a lot of money spent on social media. The money
was used for online ads, Facebook followers and for Twitter. Current measures of American
adults who use social networks are at 69%; thats up significantly from the 37% of those who
had social network profiles in 2008. (Abid 4) The amount of adults using social media rose 32%
in four years. Right when social media was taking off, was when President Barack Obama was
campaigning for the election. His team that was helping him with the social media side
understood it was not about technology but the psychology of social behaviors. If someone is

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friends with another person who followed President Barack Obamas Facebook page, their
friends will see and may follow also.
In the 2012 election, 30% of online users report that they were urged to vote via social
media by family, friends or other social network connections, 20% actively encouraged others
and 22% posted their decision when they voted. (Rutldge 5) These percentages show just how
much social media can influence others and political campaigns. Over 39% of social media
users have seen friends or family discussing elections. (Rainie 6) The more someone is exposed
to something, it will make the person raise questions and research it. If someone has seen friends
and family members post about elections then they are more likely to research them. They will
learn more and be educated on the candidates and not just vote off of followers. People put
everything on social media now which encourages others to do it also. If one person sees another
voting they are more likely to go vote, especially if that person is close to them. Some people use
their Facebook or other social media sites as a blog or rant for politics. They share articles and
express their feelings about it. Then others share what they had to say and it spreads all over the
internet. It is a quick way to get what you have to say about something out there. My father is
one of those people who posts about politics which makes me read more about the articles. I am
a curios person, which just about everyone is, so it makes me want to know more so I am not
blind to the situations happening around me. I know of many people who learn so much from my
fathers posts on Facebook. That is one example of how social media influences political
campaigns.
A few questions I had while researching this topic were, does social media promoting a
candidate make people vote for the one with the most likes or the one with actual good ideas?
What will be the next big thing for candidates to use to get to the people? How does social media

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make bad candidates look good? To answer the first one, Facebook shows that Obama had nearly
triple the amount of friends on Facebook than Romney did. Did people vote for the one with the
most friends? It is unsure of how many actually did that but some did. The next big thing could
be anything. Social media is the new thing to use so almost all candidates are using it.

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Works Cited
Abid, Abdul. "The Political Power of Social Media." Dawn. 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 3 Nov.
2015.
Garecht, Joe. "Using Social Media in Your Campaign." Using Social Media in Your
Campaign. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
Levine, Peter. Social Media Hasnt Boosted Young Voter Turnout. The Washington Post
TheWashingtonPost.com. 1 Dec. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Metaxas l, Panagiotis. Social Media and the Elections. Science and Society 6106 (2012):
472-73. AAAS. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Rainie, Lee. "Social Media and the 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections." U.S. Department of
State. 20 June 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Rutldge, Pamela. "How Obama Won the Social Media Battle in the 2012 Presidential
Campaign." The Media Psychology Blog. 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.