Power to the People
Stephen Canestrino
Clay Shirky appeared in a Ted-Talk in November of 2012 where he brought up the sheer power of social media that is still quite prevalent 10 years later. He brings us back to 2009, where Obama had used social media “maturely” during his campaign.
Obama’s supporters had a differing opinion on a particular bill, so they let him know their opinion through social media. Instead of shutting down or putting his supporters down, he did not take down their opinions, he listened to them and addressed the situation in a press release. In the end, he did not change the bill, but let them know he read and heard their voices through social media. He used social media “maturely” by illustrating the strength of the peoples’ voice on the various platforms.
Many people usually find their political “identity” through various social media platforms, instead of the news on the TV. On social media, most people do not have a prevalent following to be able to change the ideas of others on certain topics. As a result, they end up clinging to high profile individuals with the same ideals. That is the power that social media holds.
On Instagram, there were a few stories posted on a company’s page asking for feedback on their products. They allowed their consumers to voice their protected opinions for the betterment of the company and its products. I believe this to be another example of “maturely” using social media.
An example of using social media “immaturely” is when I saw a Donald Trump ad on YouTube. The ad is demeaning and demoralizing Joe Biden. It appeared to be childish and did not provide any informative content on the election campaign. It only added to the antics, using the power of social media in an inappropriate manner.
Obama having a campaign digitally was insanely ahead of its time. It exposed the power behind social media and individuals with many followers.
