Social Media’s Impact on Politics and Public Opinion
Social Networks in Politics
Social networks are one of the main ways of expressing public opinion. Social media has provided a newer, more direct forum in which politicians talk to people. Social media’s biggest impact on politics has more to do with them listening. In politics, presidents and presidential candidates have long reached people through national television and rallies. But until recently, talking to politicians meant writing a letter one could only pray would reach its intended audience, attending a rally in hopes of grabbing a moment of the candidate’s time, or being quoted in a news article that the candidate might see. Even if one’s words reached the candidate, neither he nor the candidate would know if he was alone in his beliefs.
Similarly, if a presidential candidate wanted to know how the public viewed him, his campaign would need to hire pollsters and try to glean how people felt about him while meeting them on the campaign trail or reading articles quoting the average Joe. While these methods are still valuable, social media has chipped away at pollsters’ monopoly on public opinion data and the wall between the people and politicians.
The debate over the impact of social media seems to center around two arguments:
- Social media opens new doorways for engaging the electorate and is creating pathways for greater civic engagement, corporate and political accountability, and journalistic integrity.
- The speed of information and individual selectiveness of what we choose to hear on social media impedes critical thought. Social media closes us off from differing viewpoints and thus stifles any form of debate.
Social Media Surveys
The emergence of the Internet complicated the investigation of public opinion formation, since the Web offers innumerable possibilities for individuals. Common to most investigations is that they explicitly or implicitly conceptualize public opinion formation as a process taking part in social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Foursquare, and Google Plus.
The Spiral of Silence
The “fear of isolation” is one of the main theories you can talk about when thinking about public opinion on the Internet. People who perceive their opinion as in accordance with the opinion of the majority will state it openly. People who suspect their own opinion to be deviant from the majority tend to stay silent. This causes the alleged majority opinion to be perceived even stronger. This spiraling process can lead to an almost complete repression of an opinion.
The Internet gives its users the possibility to be anonymous. The user doesn’t have to say his/her real name, so it’s easy for him/her to share their real opinions about an issue. Nowadays, sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are particularly effective when used to link respondents to a survey. The main advantage is that you quickly collect accurate data. The pace of communication on these kinds of sites is extremely fast, so you can expect quick results. Many Facebook users are familiar with quizzes, games, and other applications, while Twitter users tend to send interesting information to their followers via retweet. To attract successful respondents, you must have enough followers. Social media can seriously enhance the approach to a survey project.