Social Media and Elections

With election season upon us it is important to start investigating each candidate running. However, in 2016 researchers predict most campaign exploration will be done in completely different ways than seen in previous years.

Social Media has become a huge part of everyday life for most people in the United States. The interplay between the elections and social media is going to become a game changer in 2016. These social platforms are going to rely on targeted advertising for most of their income. They have already started preparing for a huge influx of money within the next year. The budgets for social media are predicted to be around one billion dollars in the 2016 race. Ad spending alone is expected to reach $11.4 billion dollars with a decent percentage directed towards digital media.

The biggest reason behind this targeted advertising over social media is to reach millennials. A study conducted by Ipsos Mori explained social media has a huge impact on 18 to 24-year-olds. Over a third, 34%, explained that seeing something on social media could influence their vote. This was a close second to what they see on televised debates.

Another study conducted by researchers from the University or Chicago and Mills college explained how often young adults use social media to discuss politics. 41 percent of young adults reported engage of some kind of political discourse online. This included things such as sending a tweet about an event, sharing videos of candidates, or discussion politics between on a blogging site. The study explains this is a significant dimension of the political life of young people. It gives them much more control, a bigger voice, and allows them to potentially influence the important people in their lives.

Social media is becoming a very powerful tool for advertisers. This trend is being picked up from most candidates in the race so far. As elections get closer and closer we should see more campaigning over our favorite social media platforms.