The Impact of Social Media on U.S Elections
Photo Credit: Cienpies Design/Shutterstock
By Zachary McGraw
According to polls published by the Pew Research Center, 55 percent of American adults get their news from social media. Social media has been crucial for social and political justice movements in the last few years, sparking the MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements. But there is also a downside to relying on social media for information; according to the Pew Research Center, 38 percent of 35 to 49 year olds often believe fake news, and 41 percent of 18 to 34 year olds believe fake news articles are real. It is evident that social media has an immense influence on our society and politics; how social media companies choose to manage their platforms will have a large impact on our country and the world for years to come.
In the last thirty years, 92 percent of Republicans have become more conservative and 94 percent of Democrats have become more liberal, according to the U.C. Berkeley Political Science newspaper, The Greater Good. While this alone may sound harmless, the percent of Democrats and Republicans who view the other party negatively has doubled and it is only getting worse. Sophomore Ousseynou Ndoye says he has noticed the impact.
“It has become more difficult to talk about politics in the last few years—people seem less open to new ideas and listening to the other side.” said Ndoye ’23
The polarization in politics has also led to more extreme politicians getting elected. Politicians who used social media to their advantage have won unlikely elections, such as Donald Trump and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Some believe that social media gives a voice to those who wouldn’t have been represented before in politics, while others think it makes elected officials have more extreme views; there is truth on both sides. Politicians who have less money are more likely to win, but the average congressman has become more extreme in their political views. Social media has amplified more dangerous voices as shown by the 2020 election of a Georgia QAnon supporter to Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Social Media amplifies radical ideas and makes them mainstream, which can have dangerous effects on our world. According to studies by NBC news people are more likely to believe outrageous and obviously fake news on social media. This problem is amplified when members of the left and right are only given biased news on their feed which further validates their worldview.
Social media has led to the growth of many social justice movements that are widely viewed as positive for society, such as Black Lives Matter and the MeToo movement. Social media spread the killing of George Floyd, creating mass awareness and visibility of issues such as police brutality that people may not have been aware of twenty years ago. Lizette Ortega Dolan, tenth grade humanities teacher and a frequent user of social media states, “Social media hasn’t impacted my political views, but it has become an additional way for activism. There's strength, possibility and knowledge in social media, we just have to learn to use it correctly.”
Under the layers of hate and disagreement, social media contains valuable information and discussions that can impact our world in a positive way.
Although social media can be used for positive change, it is a breeding ground for misinformation. Fake news spreads 70 percent faster than real news and leads to widespread confusion and distrust about what is true or not. Politicians continue to manipulate the truth to fit the narrative they are pushing for their own self-interest.
In the last few months, sites like Twitter have started cracking down on misinformation spread by politicians. Many politicians have countered this with the narrative that Twitter is biased and unfair, but this claim is simply false; Twitter’s fight against misinformation has no apparent biases and holds the same standards for both parties. While this is widely regarded as a step in the right direction, many ask if this is enough. Despite social media companies’ best efforts, many conspiracy theories and radical policies continue to become mainstream on their platforms. Many more regulations on content are considered, on both sides, necessary to lessen polarization in this country, and how these social media companies decide to regulate their platforms will have lasting effects on our democracy for years to come.
