Research Discussion responses

1. In the article “Did Social Media Really Matter?”, the purpose of this study is to examine college students’ use of online media for political attention in the 2008 presidential election. This study assessed social media attention, online expression, and traditional internet attention and its relation to political self-efficacy and situational political involvement. After reading the article, I learned that social media social media not only allow users to seek information but also interact with others through online expression such as posting political comments on blogs and social network sites. I have always been highly against sharing political opinions online due to the fact that it can lead to confrontations with families and colleagues. This article has taught me that social media can actually be useful especially when it comes to the younger generation. Social media has changed the way in which political communication takes place here in the US. Politicians, political parties etc are all using social media such as facebook and Twitter to communicate and engage with voters. This is a great way for voters to voice their opinions, engage with a wide network, and connect with other likeminded individuals.  

2. Social Media has engraved itself into the culture of today's normalities and remains unparalleled in it's usage towards everyday occasions. In the article, "Did Social Media Really Matter", the effectiveness of social media towards political goals is examined, as well as the involvement of the youth and their role in this whole process. The guiding question in the article remains clear, social media's facilitation in the political scene and it's influences towards our decisions. Without a doubt, the inclusion of social media has proved useful. As said by Delli Carpini, " the Internet brings more citizens into the political process and may be particularly effective at engaging young people". With anything, a matter of discussion is always focused on the future, and as for this situation the present remains intent in including the youth who will become the leaders of tomorrow and so on. The positive correlation between this and social media use comes to no surprise given that it displays a positive association with political self efficacy, as well as a broadened perception with engagement and the various parties involved. 

3. After reading ''Did Social Media Matter?” I learned that the social media can influence the decision making and the way people understand political viewpoints and statements.  As social media become more and more accessible to people it became easier to spread the political influences across multiple platforms of public information. As author states “Between 1996 and 2008, the percentage of Americans who got political information online rose from 4% to 40% (Rainie, 2007a; Smith & Rainie, 2008).” This means that not only the internet became more accessible to the public, but also greatly influenced the political view points and emphasized the ideas more clearly.

4. After reading ''Did Social Media Matter?", I was able to understand certain information that I was not paying attention before. Those types of research showed very explained in details analytical data about 2008 elections; how the youth was influence by propaganda on social media and youtobe.  some political and media observers commented that social media played a significant role in the 2008 campaign in affecting young voters’ political cognition and behaviors (Hesseldahl, MacMillan, & Kharif, 2008; Marchese, 2008; Owen, 2008). Existing literature on the political utility of social media provides mixed evidence. The young people were influence because the propaganda they were paying attention to was not the conventional one; this way they fell more identificated  with the politicians.

5. After reading the article "Did Social Media Really Matter?", I was able to expand my knowledge on a topic I always been quite interested in. I find the research question of this study to be, what is the role of social media and politics on college students, and how does it influence their cognitive skills / decision making. To be specific, during the election of 2008. I think it is quite easy to see that social media truly makes a political impact on many young adults. Many young adults like myself find ourselves at our phone always browsing through social media and various content. It isn't a surprise to come across a political stance / image. Moving on, the authors had many questions continuing from previous research. For example, " A recent survey indicates 15% of Americans used the Internet at least once a week during the 2008 election to urge others to support a candidate, and 10% made an online donation to a candidate or campaign " (Smith & Rainie, 2008). Seeing the amount of Americans utilizing the Internet and politics, it grew the authors hunger to continue on.