Today`s post is going to be a bit different as it is in the form of a podcast.

In it I will be sharing my personal experience with participating in an online political campaign! After that I will be discussing millenials and how they are shaping their political views through social media.

You can listen to the podcast below :).

 

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Can the government have control over your access to Facebook and Twitter? Continue reading this post to find out more.

Social media is often viewed as a way for us to freely express and discuss different opinions. It is not just about stalking your friends or posting about what you had for lunch. Social media is a great way for our voices to be heard by like-minded people who share our views and beliefs. This is why when it comes to political communication nowadays, Facebook and Twitter are often mentioned as the driving forces behind the choices that people make when it comes to voting, for example.

By giving people a way to voice their opinion, you are giving them the power to demand change. This is why social media is both a blessing and curse when it comes to government and politics. It can help communicate new ideas but it can also be used by people in order to go against decisions they do not agree with.

In recent years, people have started to use social media as a way to gather together and organize protests against their governments. In this instance, the government would sometimes react by limiting or completely shutting down access to the Internet or certain social media channels.

The reality

This is what has been happening in Turkey over the past couple of years. Whenever there are news of an upbringing caused by some kind of political distabilization, the Turkish government would do anything in their power to stop people from accessing social media. The main reason for this is so that they could control the information flowting around at that time and limit its reach.

A recent example of this was from the beginning of November, 2016, when 11 Kurdish-backed politicians were arrested. The government quickly blocked access to the Internet by slowing it down. This was done as a precaution as they feared that people would want to gather and protest. Internet restrictions are now very common in Turkey as a way of suppressing media coverage of political incidents.

How people get informed

TurkeyBlocks is a site that serves as a way to monitor and detect restrictions throughout Turkey. It is an independent, non-partisan digital transparency project that identifies internet censorship through “a combination of digital forensic techniques.” They are also very active on Twitter where they share daily reports of any disruptions or restrictions that their software has detected. This is a very good way for people to get informed when there is an ongoing governmental blackout.

Turkey is not the only country that has blocked social media. Dadaviz have created a map showing the five countries alongside Turkey where government has established certain limits over the Internet. These include: Iran, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, and North Korea, which is entirely closed off from social media.

Learning about all of this has given me a different perspective on the way social media functions. I would really like to hear your thoughts about this as well so, feel free to leave a comment down below.

– Plami x

On the 20^th January, 2017, the new President of the United States of America was sworn into office, following a hectic and really stressful election season. The 2016 Presidential Elections will forever be remembered as having some of the most interesting yet contradicting candidates and campaigns.

After a really close vote, Donald Trump won against Hilary Clinton and was pronounced as the 45^th US President. Many were left shocked by the outcome of the elections and some even said that they were willing and ready to flee the country! Social media was flooded with messages from people criticizing those who voted Trump and others who were sharing their plans to immigrate to Canada or Europe.

Tweets, videos, and Facebook posts on the topic continue to flood are feeds, especially in the days after the Inauguration. Many celebrities have taken to Twitter in order to show their support for now former President Barack Obama. Most of the tweets contained the hashtag ThankyouObamas which started gaining popularity after Ellen DeGeneres posted a video paying tribute to Obama and his family. At the end of the video she thanks Barack and Michelle for everything and says “we will miss you so much.”

You can check out the video below:

 

Beyonce, John Legend, and Shonda Rhimes were amongst the first to tweet out their own messages of support and gratitude towards the Obamas using the hashtag that has since gone viral.

 

According to KEYHOLE.co’s hashtag analytics tool, #ThankyouObamas has gained over 18 million impressions from just 703 tweets. The Twitterverse has also been flooded with pictures and memes of Trump and his wife Melania. This is in stark contrast with the pictures of Obama and Michelle that are being shared around as they have been nothing but supportive.

To all my US readers out there, I hope you stay strong and remember that “This too shall pass!”
So instead of making plans on how to flee the country, I suggest we all focus on the positive and reflect on the power of our voices the next time voting season is around.

Best, Plami x

P.S.  Kanye 2020 is still a thing!

 

SOURCES:

www. keyhole.co
www.youtube.com/user/TheEllenShow
www.twitter.com/Bey_Legion
www.twitter.com/johnlegend

 

Many of us have at least one friend who is very active in sharing his or her political views on social media. It has become somewhat of a phenomenon in recent years for social media to, in a way, narrate political turn-outs or issues connected with government and legislation. It is not only about sharing your opinion anymore – Facebook and Twitter have become a driving force dictating the future governance of our world.

Almost every time when a conversation about politics is started on social media it goes in one of two directions – you either get supported by like-minded friends or you end up ruining a friendship or two in the 103-comment-long feed under your status update.

If you were active on social media in 2016, you probably participated in either a discussion on Brexit or the US Presidential Elections.These events were probably the most talked about political campaigns in the last few years. Both of them had people choose a definite side – you were either a “leave” or “remain” advocate or a Trump of Hillary supporter. This is what made them so talked about on social media and what still fuels the conversation around them even after the voting has ended.

 

The effect of social media on Brexit

An article published by The Independent recently, states that if social media had not existed, the Brexit vote might have actually swayed the other way. This was based on a poll done by YouGov after the referendum. Those who believe that the campaign would have failed, if it weren`t for Facebook and Twitter, had mostly voted ‘remain’ (47% of them, to be exact).

But the poll also found that it wasn`t only the pro-EU voters who thought that way – 39% of the UK as a whole believes that without the help of social media, most would have voted ‘remain’. This leads us to question the verity and the accuracy of the vote as a whole.

After seeing these results and reading people`s reactions on social media I am left with a lot of questions like, for example, ‘Can we trust the results from the referendum?’. Shouldn`t parliament in this case reconsider the response of the public or even run the vote again?

The Brexit referendum is a great example of how social media can influence our political views. This puts in perspective the future of campaigning and voting and leaves us, or at least me, wondering whether my opinions on different issues are not solely based on the influence that social media has on its users. The only thing we have left is to hope that the outcome of our decisions will benefit everyone and not only those in power.

Hello, world and welcome to my blog!

As you might have guessed from the title, everything I will be posting on here will be connected to the digitalizing of government and politics.

In simpler words, I will be talking about the impact that social media has had on political campaigns and the implementation of different governmental policies through different examples from our daily life. One of the key political events that I will be covering will be the Presidential Vote in the United States and the inauguration of the winning candidate in January. The battle will surely be tough as both Hillary and Trump have a large following in real life and on social media.

A brief history

In order to dive into my topic, I wanted to do some background research on some of the first instances where social media was used as a tool to spark political engagement among the masses.

The first politician credited with using the Internet for raising money for his campaign is democrat Howard Dean. After serving for over ten years as the Governor of Vermont, Dean decided to run for president in the 2004 US elections. He was the first candidate to have a campaign website and although he had a huge online following, he ended up loosing the election. One of the platforms that he used in order to engage his followers was called Meetup. Through it he would organize meetups where like-minded individuals could learn more about his campaign.

In one of their articles, POLITICO magazine called Howard Dean “The Father of all Web campaigns.” But the true genius behind his campaign was Joe Trippi. He helped pioneer online campaigning and is now one of the most famous “veteran media masters” in the world.

The first time we met Obama

With the development of technology and the creation of social media platforms like Facebook, sharing one’s political views with others became even easier. The presidential candidates in the 2008 election were amongst some of the few global leaders who were successfully leading their campaigns online. Barack Obama’s camapign is one of the most memorable in US election history as it utilized all the main social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

By 2012, candidates were using social media to not only run their campaigns but to also announce them in the first place. Obama, for example, announced his re-election through a video, which his team sent out to over 13 million of his followers via email. Mit Romney did something similar by tweeting out his candidacy. This shows how important social media had become for politics and political engagement.

The future of politics is now

This leads us to 2016 and the most anticipated election season ever.  Personally, I think that social media today is not only following and reporting on the election but it is also driving it. This makes the image that the candidates are trying to reflect through different platforms crucial for the outcome of the voting.

As the election comes to a close, we will carefully be exploring the way in which both Clinton and Trump are executing their online accounts. I will be sharing articles and materials on the topic on my Facebook and Twitter and writing a few blog posts as well.

So, stay tuned for more and join me on this journey into exploring the digital side of politics!

– Plami x