Social Media and The Election

Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest, and YouTube are all internet-based platforms for entertainment, information, communication, and now the Election. For the first time in history, debates are live-streamed on YouTube and available for people to replay on their computers and mobile devices. In 2008, Barack Obama had a social media campaign that helped him with the presidency. Since the influence of social media has grown, it played a major role in this year’s election. Although the 2008 US Presidential Election was referred to as the “social media election,” now this year’s election campaign is a totally different ballgame. Four years ago, 1.8 million tweets were sent on Election Day, but now, 1.8 million tweets were sent every eighteen minutes. Last Tuesday on Election Day, Twitter barely avoided crashing, peaking at around 327,452 tweets per minute. For Election 2012, young voters, ages 18-24, weren’t tuning in to watch the election results on the evening news. Twitter and Facebook were more convenient for young voter. Although I was helping out with the election, every time we took a commercial break, I would check my Facebook and Twitter to see what people were posting about the election. What shocked me was that although many young voters were using social media outlets, some were also watching comedic programs that commented on the election. On Tuesday night, during commercial breaks, some people were watching The Daily Show on the cell phones and iPads. Although I felt I was “missing out” on what was going on during the election, I was actually more tuned in. By having my cellphone, I could check my Facebook and Twitter, and receive information instantly about the election. Overall, I feel that this election had more social media interactivity than the previous election. During the previous election, I felt like I was “out of the loop” and didn’t know what was happening, but with this election, I felt “tuned in.” I actually knew, during commercial breaks of course, what was going on within seconds. 

"Wag The Dog" My opinion

"Why does a dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail were smarter, the tail would wag the dog." Wag the Dog criticizes the "naivety" of society and how people's unquestioning absorption of propaganda only encourages the media to exploit them on a higher level. Wag the Dog also enforces the belief that politics is the art of media manipulation. Wag the Dog exemplifies society's complete trust in the imagery of media presented to them, and their belief of the political propaganda. Many issues arise from the film Wag The Dog. Some of these issues involve the power of the media in American culture to affect our values, the belief in "objective" reportage, censorship of news and information, and in general, the rationalizations society makes for going or not going to war.In today’s dynamic world we rely on different sources of information using varieties of information technologies. We depend on the various mass media for information about events in and outside of the United States. This information influences, and often shapes the view of our country and the world, and helps us determine the position on issues that affect us. The media indeed shapes our reality. We the people are the ones that believe and trust in most cases the information that we receive. Especially when this information comes from a seemingly trusted source, we tend not to doubt anything that we hear.  A very good example of how media can interpret anything and how ethical issues, interpersonal and organizational perspectives play an important role in our life is the movie Wag the Dog. The movie Wag the Dog focuses our attention on the media just to remind us that not everything that we hear and read is true. We should rely more on our personal experiences and use the media as a secondary source of information. The movie itself not only represents the power of the media but also the way the information is created and transformed between different groups within and outside the organization. Along with the media influence, ethical issues as well as interpersonal and organizational perspectives played a big role in the movie. I think it is ironic how media basically "wags the dog." In the movie, media is the dog, while public is the tail. The film shows media's control over the public. I think it is interesting how public can believe or trust the news. In Wag the Dog,  the president's face was never shown. I feel that by not showing the president's face, we, as the audience, could form an opinion. Overall, I liked the movie and would watch it again. As a person who wants to work in news, I found this movie entertaining in how the media has power and can influence or manipulate people to believe or do things.