Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN How Social Media Shape Political Campaigns Name Institution 1 SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 2 How Social Media Shape Political Campaigns Introduction The potential of new media to shape public opinions about major issues in our society is undoubtedly greater than the ones mainstream platforms had before the emergence of the new ones. Digital communication platforms had redefined every aspect of the structures and systems for engaging citizens in the development of their society since their prominence are dependent on ease of access and distribution capability. While new media such as social media platforms have become avenues for socioeconomic and cultural changes, their role in the operation of the processes and creation of the strategies used in the political landscape is considered most profound. Facebook and Twitter are communication channels for the distributing information to the electorate thereby making them the primary tools for the campaign projects of politicians (Apuke & Apollos, 2017). Therefore, this research would examine the models that political parties have leverage the power and influence of social media to increase voter engagement and participation in ways that increase their chances for victory at the polls. It will argue that the distinguishing features of this new media are the part of the reasons why traditional ones are restructuring their strategies to remain relevant in the current and future dispensation. Media and Politics Newspapers, television, and the radio are examples of mass media platforms that have served as tools for disseminating information to the public for long periods. Most of the issues that affect the people are either discussed through the articles and interviews in the newspapers and magazines or programs on television. Also, the talk shows on radio are used for similar purposes as journalists use them to inform and educate the people on the policies and agenda of SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 3 the government and institutions. According to Anstead and O'Loughlin (2015), the relationship between the media and politics is reflected in the approaches used by mainstream news channels and organizations to engage politicians, political parties, and the electorate. For example, broadcasters and journalist ensure that debates and discussion in the productions are non-biased and structured to present a balanced viewpoint of the issues that are discussed. An additional dimension of the connection between mass media and the political class is the dependence of the latter on the former to advertise the ideas and programs for resolving the social problem in ways that show the weaknesses of the argument presented by their opponent. Therefore, media has served as traditional platforms for the propagation of the messages from politicians to members of their constituency or the general electorate. Social Media as Drivers of New Media Owen (2011) described the period of the emergence of new media as an era that altered the political landscape of the United States as politicians and their campaign machinery was altered to reflect the paradigm. New strategies were developed and implemented for the candidates and political parties by the campaign organizations of their influence on voter engagement through media coverage. In the early stages of the development of new media in this country, politicians relied on conventional online platforms to advertise their electoral agenda to the public or publish their interviews with respected journalist and media personalities on the channels. Although the adoption of the new media channels was low, they became propaganda tools for people with different political affiliations and ideologies. Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan (2013) described social media as the sophisticated and new media that altered the form, function, and content of political communication used by strategists and their clients. In the new system, the demands of the audience became different, which SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 4 increased the influence of social media tools such as networking and blogging sites. One of the strengths of social media that made it the driving force behind the new media culture was its replication power and borderless communication to a variety of people despite their potential of non-participation in the electioneering process. Also, the various elements of social media platforms are unique regarding their quality of the content of the messages distributed through them. They are disruptive by changing the method for creating information content and delivering them to consumers. Unlike in the past where the news cycle is limited to certain periods of the day, the advent of social media has transformed it into a 24-hour one that is available throughout the year. Facebook is a form that allows the posting of videos, text, and images while YouTube is limited to the audio-visual materials only. However, the key feature of these types of social media outlets is their low implementation cost and distribution power. A tweet about the agenda of a political candidate can be shared multiple times without the restriction of time and place that traditional new channels placed on the campaign process. A further dimension is the impact of social media o the development of public opinion about social issues and the policies and systems designed for dealing with them (Biswas, Ingle, & Roy, 2014). Although the lack of control has resulted to misinformation on several occasions, the consequence is that politicians and the media campaign team are expected to actively engage their supporters and the entire electorate through the control of the narratives. Political effectiveness is a phenomenon that media experts and political analysts consider as the source of the problem with the relationship between media and politics. The need to filter the accuracy and integrity of the new items that are disseminated through various platforms placed social networking sites on the pedestal of the tools that would determine civic SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 5 engagement. Owen (2011) noted that information over-flow that has characterized the landscape is the making it difficult for the electorate to evaluate competing claims since politicians cannot interpret some of the dynamics of the discussions on social issues and topics that they participate during an election period. It is this dimension of the current landscape that would increase the power of social media platforms to drive current political campaigns and future ones. In this context, opportunities exist for campaign managers and strategists to ensure that quality of information that emanated from them are useful for increasing the level of acceptance of their candidate. An example of how this aspect of the influence of social media can help aspirants achieve their goals is how President Obama and President Trump used the social networking sites to engage citizens and participate in the political process during the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections respectively. While the Obama campaign team used the change slogan to win two terms consecutively, the Trump campaign used the need to filter information before trusting it to defeat his opponent and cause one of the greatest electoral shocks in the history of the United States. Influence of Social Media on Political Campaigns Social media networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube provide the opportunity for people to distribute stories from different devices from different parts of the world. Aside from the availability of new information on these sites throughout the day, politicians and political use those to shaping opinions by providing commentaries that are constantly changing on a variety of subjects. However, the greatest influence that social media has ever had on the political process is its power to engage voters in a different way since millions of people can join the conversation at any time of the day. Although Barack Obama was not the first presidential campaign to use social media to drive his political campaign, he was SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 6 regarded as the most successful because his tweets and posts empowered and engaged the voters in ways that several people never imagined (Dutta & Bhat, 2016). The message hope after the impacts of the economic crisis of 2008 altered the political landscape in the country as volunteers and fundraisers for the Democratic Party outperformed their Republican counterparts that relied mostly on the mainstream media to connect with their supporters. Bright et al. (2017) stated that political campaigns undergo four cycles that requires professionalism and enormous resources to accomplish the overall objective of winning the election. In the case of the Obama Campaign in 2008, the strategist and organizer ensured that every stage was driven by the power of social media to highlight the potential of the inexperienced African-American politician to change the country. Every member of the campaign organization ensured that Americans got the message of hope that shared during rallies and debate sessions. For example, the Election Day is the most important political campaign period because of the need to gather and canvass voters to the polling booth to alter the projected outcome of the election. Furthermore, social networking sites became effective models for generating the desired democratic engagement and civic participation that should help societies improve and attain their development goals. However, the regular update of new information and their availability is a source of challenge for sustaining the interests of the electorate in the topics and policies supported by different aspirants. When consideration is given to this weakness of social media platforms, then political campaign organizations and their team would need to structure their activities in ways that present new and different perspectives on the topics and subjects that the candidate plan to tackle for the people. A further dimension of the influential power of social media to the behavior of the electorate during an election year is the increased polarization of the environment. The issues SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 7 that emanated from the U.S 2016 Presidential Election are still affecting the country till today as the organizations and strategists continue to ensure that support for this political parties remains strong and credible for winning future elections (Vonderschmitt, 2012). Therefore, the efficiency of technology-based initiatives to disseminate information on the attractiveness of one aspirant over others must consider the cynical and disengagement potential of the tools, especially when the stakes are stacked against the candidate. Vonderschmitt (2012) stated that campaign organization has lost the traditional power and authority of controlling the narratives that determine the chances of their candidates. In the era of social networking sites, such controls are becoming decentralized for the headquarters of the organizations to the community centers and local offices of the politician. One of the implications of this paradigm is that the debate topics used by politicians to influence the decisions of voters are more focused and determined by the level of the aspirant’s participation on the conversation of social media. For example, the Hope campaign of the Obama 2008 was effective in conductive political advocacy that its opponent by allowing voters at the local level to not only drives the civic conversations but ensure that the candidate answered difficult questions by his agenda. It was a differentiator between Obama and the Republican candidate that resulted in the victory of the African-American candidate at the polls. An important but relatively unknown aspect of political campaigns during the era of traditional media that emerged as the leading theme in the social media is citizen feedback. It is a virtual system that has numerous virtual opportunities for campaign organizations to increase the rate of civic engagement of their constituency in ways that result in the promotion of the agenda of their candidates. One of the approaches that can be used for understanding the advantages of this dimension of the discussion is the examination of the positive impact of customer feedback SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 8 on the performance of corporate entities. According to Vonderschmitt (2012), one of the advantages of feedback mechanism that social media possess is the method for reconnecting citizens and the political leaders in ways that re-establish the broken trust system due to lack of transparency and responsiveness of the politicians. Therefore, the influence of social media platforms in the development of the feedback and utilization of the information during the creation of policies that is critical to the growth of the people would be a valuable knowledge source for political campaign organizations. Social Media and Voting Behavior Furthermore, the potential for social media to change the way people communicate with each other has resulted in changes in their voting behavior. Vonderschmitt (2012) stated that the typical behavioral pattern of the electorate during an election year is the identification of the agenda presented by their political parties to deal with issues that would improve their lives. In this context, voters examine the political history of the candidates and how their proposed policies and agendas are aligned with their expectation. The decision to vote is based on these criteria and one that can be influenced through the consistent dissemination of the content to the people through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube among others that are accessible to the people. Although the political rallies are effective platforms to accomplish similar objectives, social media platforms remain the most effective source to shape the voting behavior of the electorate). For example, President Obama used this approach to increase the win votes in Republican states including the ones where race plays a prominent role. How Social Media Elements Influence Voting Behavior SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 9 Vaccari et al. (2015) stated public opinion remains the major element of the voting behavior of the electorate during an election cycle. It is a concept that is valuable in understanding the potential of social media platforms to either enhance or diminish the potential of the political candidate to win the election. An example of the approach for understanding this method is the need to examine the construction of public opinion and its role in the development of the perspective of voters during the election. In this regard, the goal would be the structure the communication and discussions surrounding the agendas of the aspirants during debates and appearances in the community. When this method is related to the distribution power of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, then the capacity of public opinion as an influence of the behavior of the electorate is critical to the sustenance of their aspiration. Anstead and O'Loughlin (2015) noted that multidimensional model used for understanding public opinion is another way for determining its effects on the successful implementation of the campaign project of politicians. They argued that social media analysis is one of the ways that researchers can use to understand the roles of the platforms in the development of an effective campaign plan. For example, the three stages of the campaign that include canvassing and public rallies can be distributed through the official Facebook and Twitter accounts of the campaign organization, especially in the context of comparing the authenticity of the agenda of the preferred candidate with the ones from the opposition. In a survey conducted by a leading research center in the United States, a quarter of Facebook users depend on the comment and likes of others to determine the accuracy of their opinion. Therefore, campaign organizations can increase the participation of their target population in the civic conversations that surround their policies and agenda of their candidates in ways that would change their voting behavior favorably. This assertion is based on the high frequency of the SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 10 personal and professional interactions that exist among the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networking sites. The deep penetration of mobile communication is an element of social media that provide abundant opportunities for campaign organizations and strategists to reach as many people as possible through their smartphones. According to Vaccari et al. (2015), over 25percent of the adult population in the United States possess one mobile device or the other thereby making them a valuable platform to shape their voting behavior and participation in the political process. Also, the distribution of the communication materials and messages of the aspirants to them on the go is necessary for the type of access that could change their affiliation and choice on the day of the election. For example, information about policy briefs can be sent to the millions of supporters through the power of this technology, which could lead to conversations on the type of national dialogue and communications that are important for accomplishing the objectives of the organization. Geo-location is a feature of social media platforms that are useful for targeting people according to their behavioral patterns and using the information to develop policies that could address the social problems and contribute to their decision to vote for the candidate. However, the most valuable aspect of this element of social media platform is the capacity to distribute relevant information and resources to the target population within the constituency without wasting resource. This cost-saving potential of the social networking sites is not just evident in the resources or material deployment but in the careful planning of the information that is distributed to the electorate. Meanwhile, the need to eliminate information dumping that was identified as part of the issues surrounding mainstream media organizations is a factor that made SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 11 this element a critical one in the identification and selection of the campaign tools for civic engagement, especially the ones that are related to the privacy concerns of the electorate. Social Media and Campaign Finance in the United States While utilizing the example of the 2008 Presidential election in the United States, funding for a political campaign is an integral element that is used for determining the success or failure of the candidate. Legally, the use of social media to finance political campaign is acceptable in the country and served the purpose of helping candidates without the financial support of major individual and corporate donors. Therefore, several web platforms that can be used to disseminate the agenda of the political party and candidate to the people are also effective for highlighting the need for funds, provide accountability and transparency measures and create community actions that are unique (McElwee & Yasseri, 2017). Aside from directing supporters to the offline platforms, the social media sites have payment solutions that supporters and interested donors can use to fund the campaign of their preferred candidates. Community Action The populations of the communities that constitute the constituency of political candidates are critical to the determination of the campaign strategies that would be used for disseminating the ideological principles and social program that differentiate a candidate from his or her opponents. Also, the demographics of the people is another element of the campaign cycle that is critical to the development of the methods for canvassing for their votes. Therefore, community action is the one of the most important activities that politicians that seeks elective positions depend on to win the nomination of their political parties. It is the bottom-up impact that translates into the outcomes that extend beyond the local and states levels. For example, SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 12 community action in the election year is the strategy for gather volunteers and organizers of the rallies and public appearance events that the candidate would attend to convince voters of the workability and superiority of his or her political agenda. Therefore, obtaining the financial support of the communities in the constituency is one of the significant elements for winning at the polls. However, the high competition for the limited financial resources at the local level of the political process makes it pertinent for the campaign managers of political to encourage the people to fund the victory of their candidates. McElwe et al. (2017) reported that the outcome of several studies on the political behavior of the average American voter showed that the socio-economic status of the population and political affiliation are the two primary elements that would determine their willingness to fund the campaign activities of their preferred candidate. One of the consequences of this finding is that politicians can use the cost-effective nature of social media advertising to encourage the participation of their entire supporter at the local as part of their community action strategy. For example, a candidate that launches his appeal for funds through YouTube can use the interconnecting capabilities of other social media platforms to increase the distribution and reach of the materials to volunteers and filed canvassers to obtain the needed financial resources for funding the travels and rallies used by the candidate to communicate with the electorate and highlight his or her emphasis on transparency and accountability. In 2008, Barack Obama used the selective targeting capability of social media platforms to maximize the amount donated his supporters across the country through the design of specially crafted solicitation messages to encourage them to donate since his background and associates are known. Legality of Using Social Media for Funding Political Campaigns SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 13 In the United States, the availability of money is one of the key ingredients for determining the potential of political candidates to be successful at the polls. In their analysis of the 2016 congressional election in the country, McElwe et al. (2017) wrote that Democrats raised $667,697,881 for their Senatorial candidates, which was more than the $363,396,637 gathered by the Republicans for the same race. According to the authors, the law governing campaign finance in the United States stipulates that “registered political committees, such as candidate campaigns, file reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which are made publicly available within 48 hours of submission but updated continuously afterward as the numbers become more accurate.” Also, a section of the “Federal Election Campaign Act stated that amendments to which cap individual donations to $2,700 per election and mandate disclosure for all contributions received above $200” (McElwe et al., 2017). While the data presented above represents that combined revenue from a variety of sources including social media platforms, the evaluation of the law showed that the use of the technology initiative is approved by the law. Effective Use of Social Media for Campaign Finance Dutta and Bhat (2016) wrote that political engagement is an important aspect of the processes required by politicians to strengthen the support of their party members and convince non-supporter of the potential of their proposed programs and policies to change their lives in ways that are better than their opponent. Therefore, the number of times that a candidate tweets or posts information on these social media platforms play a prominent role in the attainment of this objective. However, the ability of the strategy to encourage votes to donate to the campaign activities of their preferred candidate is dependent on the topics and trends that the candidate creates during the funding period. For example, topics such as campaign debates, meetings, town hall engagements, and stops are considered by experts as those that drive the followership of SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 14 politicians during an election cycle would increase the number of volunteers but the amount donated by them towards the victory of their preferred candidate. McElwe et al. (2017) stated that the outcome of their analysis of the approaches for utilizing the dissemination power of social media to obtain the required financial resources for a political campaign revealed effective strategies that could be adopted by politicians and their strategists. First, the information on all the social media platforms for the campaign organizations must be updated and reflect the itineraries of the candidate, which is an approach that is considered useful for attracting additional donations. |Secondly, the type of the posts, tweet, and videos posted by the organization should contribute to the accountability agenda of the campaign plan. In this context, the data obtained from the survey conducted by McElwe et al. (2017) can offer valuable insights into the methods that political candidates can use to accomplish their political goals. According to the researchers, “campaigning-related posts have a positive and significant effect on both donation sums and counts with all controls in place. This positive relationship is significant when information-seeking is added as a control” (p.9). Social Media and the Future of Campaign Financing The influence of all social media platforms on the political class that has resulted in increased penetration would continue into the future new strategies would emerge for the attainment of the election victory of a variety of candidates. Also, the limited or zero barriers to entry for these candidates to these platforms is an important factor that would yield the desired effects for these candidates both in the short and long-term perspectives. Experts project that Facebook and Twitter would remain the leading and most preferred online platforms for investing the resources that would yield additional ones that would drive the activities for strengthening the supporters’ base of the candidates during elections. An additional dimension to SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 15 the power of social media to continue its role in the development of the agenda that would encourage supporters at the local and national levels to donate to the coffers of their preferred candidate would be based on the frequency of the social media posting on the importance of the online fundraising events to the success of the candidate during election. Microblogging sites such as Twitter is the next dimension in the development of the strategies that politicians would use for attracting new and increasing the contributions of the old donors. Aside from the potential to increase the coverage of the news regarding the policies and social agendas of politicians, these microblogging sites are serving as penetration tools into states and localities that do not vote for a political party or contribute to its campaign program. Therefore, the future influence of social media on the development of the strategies and frameworks used by campaign organizations is bright and a major determinant of the outcomes of the political events and results of future elections. Conclusion The platform used by aspirants for their political campaign is an important part of the process for electing candidates in various positions at the local, state, and national levels. While traditional media channels continue to serve as platforms for politicians to inform and connect with their voters, social media networking sites remain the greatest influence of debates and discussions on their agenda. This new media would continue to be the main driver for community actions, voter engagement, and chances of success during every election cycle is causing major changes in the communication channels used by politicians to inform and interact with the supporters and convince those of their opponents to accept the contents of their proposed policies as the right solution for improving their lives and making the society a better place. The current situation is challenging for all stakeholders because of the issues surrounding SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 16 the problem and how the people would need to reconnect with the politicians that can earn their trust and deliver programs that contribute to their socioeconomic advancement. As a conclusion, the society is in an era where politics and politicians are dissociating from their dependence of traditional media outlets and returning to the online ones to articulate their viewpoints and positions on social issues that could enhance or limit their chances of success at the polls during an election. While the elements of social media contribute to the attainment of the objectives through a variety of approaches and methods, evidence from the series of studies examined in this paper showed that the different aspect of social networking sites would transform into the elements that are needed for politician to depend on them more than the other methods that were used in the past. As noted in the discussions surrounding the acquisition of funds for executing the programs and events for delivering the expected outcome for an election, the frequency of the activities of the political candidate would be critical to either a successful attempt or a failed one. 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Third Sector Research Centre Working Paper 139 McElwee, L., & Yasseri, T. (2017). Social Media, Money, and Politics: Campaign Finance in the 2016 US Congressional Cycle. arXiv preprint arXiv:1711.10380. Owen, D. (2011). Media: the complex interplay of old and new Forms. New Directions in Campaigns and Elections/Medvic SK (ed.). NY: Routledge, 145-162. Stieglitz, S., & Dang-Xuan, L. (2013). Social media and political communication: a social media analytics framework. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 3(4), 1277-1291. SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN Vaccari, C., Valeriani, A., Barberá, P., Bonneau, R., Jost, J. T., Nagler, J., & Tucker, J. A. (2015). Political expression and action on social media: Exploring the relationship between lower-and higher-threshold political activities among Twitter users in Italy. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 20(2), 221-239. Vonderschmitt, K. (2012). The Growing Use of Social Media in Political Campaigns: How to use Facebook. Twitter and YouTube to Create an Effective Social Media Campaign.. 18 Guidelines reminder for creating a dynamic project: . In general an overview of your topicIntroduction, why this topic is important to business? The presentation should provide sufficient details on the concepts. The presentation of your topic should include historical background information that all users should understand a list of key players, future trends etc.,, How much resources are companies spend or projected to spend on this topic? What are the implications to business and society at large? Business case for adopting this technology, Your insights, takeaways, recommendations, etc. Give a list of sources where the audience can find more information i.e. full citations (website name, URL, date visited) FYI 1. Plain presentations of nothing but bullets will receive a reduced grade. .
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