By Jocelyn Ian
The Media environment has changed radically in the last few years, due in part to new technology that has come to play a huge role in daily life. Social networks play an essential part in shaping the culture and opinions of those that use them. They could be considered digital public spaces where everyone has access to any kind of information. Or, to say it in other words, where communication can flow freely.
Many different areas such as religion, politics, and education make use of these social networks to get their message out; political affairs and ideologies have come to occupy an important place on social networks platforms in the last few years. This can be attributed to various factors, principally the number of people that can be reached in a short amount of time.
The Platform’s Scope
One of the benefits of social media platforms is their scoop. Between the many social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram, it’s possible to reach millions of people of different ages and interests in just a few clicks.
This would have been unimaginable a few years ago. Who would have thought that information regarding political campaigns, candidates, debates, and others would be able to reach thousands of people around the world in a very short time. For instance, the Gregg Roman YouTube video obtained hundreds of international visits.
Obviously, the Gregg Roman YouTube video isn’t alone. There are thousands of other videos that go viral and demonstrate how useful the scope of social networks is.
Evaluating Political Information
Another aspect of social networks that makes them so effective is the diversification of available content. There are so many sources of information. This can be good in some cases and not so good in others. Once it gets to the point that there is a significant gap between real information and false information, and the public is having difficulty identifying which is one and which is the other. People take advantage of this. Fake information is one of the most negative aspects of social media.
This is a plus because you can get the same information from different sources and verify its credibility. But it is also hard because it can be difficult to differentiate. So to be able to say how effective the use of social networks is they need to be investigated and understand how they are utilized by both users and followers when obtaining information.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Media Platforms
A great example of this was Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. He was called the “first social-media president” because the Obama White House was the first presidency that made use of different social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Through these platforms, they shared political information and learned to relate to their followers, which allowed them to position themselves at the top, gaining the confidence of the general public.
Despite social network platforms having many benefits, they also can have some disadvantages. One of the most important is the need to constantly check sources of information. Another would be the need to spend a good amount of time on any campaigns or promotions you may be working on.
