Social Medias Impact on Presidential Election Greater Than Ever

Social Medias Impact on Presidential Election Greater Than Ever Courtesy of Vectorportal, Flickr.com “People are on Facebook all the time,” said Christy Pesermeaus, a former PR chair for the Democratic Party of Lane County. “(Facebook) is another way to get our word to the public, and to encourage them to share with other people.” Local Republican and Democratic organization members in Lane County have implemented social media to advertise and share information pertaining to their respective parties. Social media will have a larger impact on this presidential election than the last simply because more people and organizations have recognized the fact that many turn to the sites for news. According to Paul Barnett, the Vice Chair of the Oregon Republican Party, his organization is utilizing social media more heavily than ever, especially as Election Day nears. “We didn’t have anything going on in social media four years ago,” Barnett said. “That’s basically happened in the last two years.” The organization’s Facebook site has multiple purposes. Barnett said he likes to post links to articles. He said he’s posted from a range of sources, including the Register Guard and national magazines with a conservative lean. Website manager Becky Lemler said when she uses social media, she is likely to be on the organization’s Facebook page or Twitter account. “I go on there and read the news that is of interest to the Republican Party,” she said. “I also post news so people don’t have to go to 50 or 60 other sites.” Chances are, however, people aren’t necessarily scouring the web for their news; they’re going directly to their Facebook or Twitter accounts for it. Last month, a Pew research study found that half of American adults under 30 get news from social media sites. This figure easily trumps newspapers and has equaled TV as a primary source of news. Andrew Becker, secretary of the Democratic Party of Lane County, said that Facebook has actually led to the creation of an advertising budget. “Before … we didn’t have something that we were clearly selling â€" just telling people to be democrats wasn’t enough,” Becker said. “But with Facebook, we can use the ad to draw people to our page. The more people on our page, the more people are drawn to all the candidates we represent rather than just advertising for one candidate.” Kris Turner, a student from Linn-Benton Community College, said he views videos and reads articles from factual sources that people post to Facebook and Twitter. “I was already leaning toward one side,” he said, “and through the things I read and watched, it’s made me feel stronger about my decision.” Turner is not alone, as the number of people relying on social media as a news source has doubled since 2010, according to the Pew study. “I’m in the closet about my republican view,” said Phyllis Bass, a retired resident of Eugene. “In this town, I don’t feel comfortable sharing my views.” Bass said that though she may not share her own viewpoints on Facebook, she’s gotten political news from her friends on the site. The shift to social media as a primary source of news is not a change that all support. Dan Andersen, a Political Science instructor at the University of Oregon, called the shift unfortunate but unsurprising. “That’s not to say it’s not without any redeeming qualities in terms of the political work it can do,” he said. “It can mobilize, which is critical, but it doesn’t provide information like other sources.” In addition to mobilizing, Andersen ceded that Facebook can be useful for keeping in touch with long-distance relatives, but at a cost of individuality. “I think it’s a mechanism for people to create an identity that is not a reflection of their true self,” he said. “It’s a very reductive way of interacting with people, stripped of interpersonal meaning,” he said. Reductive or not, social media has become a primary source of news, and political organizations in the Eugene area are beginning to utilize this burgeoning group.