Second Parties

Using Instagram for political use isn't just for politicians; many individual groups take to social media as a way to make their political statements heard. Here we see two very different sides of the same issue being discussed.

The Family Research Council posted this picture of Florida that shows its number of community health care clinics and Planned Parenthood clinics in an attempt to make their point that PP is not needed and that the government funding should go to other clinics.

The Planned Parenthood account posted a picture on the day of the Senate vote, asking followers to let their Senators and Congressmen know that they want Planned Parenthood to continue to receive federal funding.

Invitation

Here we see Dr. Ben Carson using Instagram as a way to reach out to his followers and potential voters to invite them to an event he would be speaking at. Instagram can be used as a great way to advertise to a specific demographic at absolutely no cost. The second this photo was posted it appeared on the home screen of every follower Dr. Carson has, informing them of the event. In addition to his current followers seeing it, it allows him the opportunity to reach out to even more Instagram users. Through simply choosing the right hashtags (#NorthCarolina, #Republican, #2016Election, #BenCarson) the photo will pop up in the explore page of anyone who has searched those or similar hashtags in the past, or has liked any photos with those hashtags.

Debate Time

As we near the next Republican debate tonight, we can look to social media to see the candidates prepping both themselves and the viewers for what is sure to be another interesting night. On Instagram we see how candidates can use their account to through up a picture of how they are spending their time getting ready, along with a clever caption reminding their followers when the debate is and where to view it. In addition to serving as a reminder for their followers; it also works as a platform for their followers to remind candidates what their main concerns are.

Here we see Governor Walker post about his pre-debate ritual of going for a run, Dr. Carson speaking with the press, and Senator Rubio and Governor Christie doing a walk through for the debate.

 Overall it creates another way for candidates and constituents to connect and communicate.

This week Donald Trump used his Instagram to inform his followers that he has signed the pledge promising that if he is not nominated as the Republican nominee he will support whomever the nominee is and will not run on an independent ticket. After the first debate he received some ridicule for not agreeing to the pledge after all of the politicians there were asked. Since posting that he has received a ton of support from his followers with over 18,000 "likes" and 10,000 comments, it obviously got voters talking. One interesting thing is that while it got voters talking, they were not necessarily talking about Trump or any political issues. Instead the comment feed quickly became a place to try to personally attack anyone who did not agree with the individual's opinion.