Guess Who I Am Friends With
We have already discussed 2nd parties using
social media to voice their opinion on policy or political issues, and now we
are moving to look at those who use their personal accounts to show their
support for an individual. So far in this election, Katy Perry has been very outspoken
in her support for Hilary Clinton’s presidential nomination. This last week
Perry did a small concert for those attending Hilary’s event in Iowa. While this
was sure to bring in fans that may not have already supported Clinton, Perry
showed her support of Clinton to even more people through a simple Instagram
post. Katy Perry posted a selfie of herself and Hilary at the event captioned “I
am with her.” Along with a picture of her freshly done nails showing off
Clinton’s campaign logo. The moment she posted these, millions of Instagram users
who follow Perry had their personal news feed filled with Hilary Clinton’s
campaign. Comparing Clinton’s 431 thousand followers to Perry’s 30.2 million
followers, Hilary could not have hoped to be able to reach as many potential
voters as Perry did in that 2 seconds it took to upload a photo.
It is astounding to think of how something like social media can have such a profound effect on something as important as the Presidential elections. If you look back a few elections ago, no one would have thought of something like Facebook or other social media actually being able to have any effect, big or small, on elections. However, with the emergence of social media and how it is now accessible at the touch of a button, people are online now more than ever. People can follow celebrities on a number of social media accounts and know what they are up and even who they support for President. With how influential celebrities are in today’s world, I can only imagine the amount of support Hillary Clinton got after Katy Perry posted this. People who don’t even have any interest in politics or are undecided about who to vote for, are now influenced by social media and celebrities. The media is having a growing impact on political campaigns and elections and it will probably only continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteIt is astounding to think of how something like social media can have such a profound effect on something as important as the Presidential elections. If you look back a few elections ago, no one would have thought of something like Facebook or other social media actually being able to have any effect, big or small, on elections. However, with the emergence of social media and how it is now accessible at the touch of a button, people are online now more than ever. People can follow celebrities on a number of social media accounts and know what they are up and even who they support for President. With how influential celebrities are in today’s world, I can only imagine the amount of support Hillary Clinton got after Katy Perry posted this. People who don’t even have any interest in politics or are undecided about who to vote for, are now influenced by social media and celebrities. The media is having a growing impact on political campaigns and elections and it will probably only continue to grow.
ReplyDelete