Between a ROCK and a hard place
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How could The Rock effectively leverage his widespread social media following to sweep the elections? Are there any ways in which pre-awareness could backfire?
- Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, and semi-retired professional wrestler, and currently at the number 1 rank on the top actors social media ranking and had currently been at the number 1 spot for three weeks straight. He is currently one of the most influential people in the world with 99.3 million followers on instagram and 12,469,517 Followers on Twitter, fans from all over the world.
TIME magazine revealed their 2016 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Among the honorees none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, listed as a “titan”, The Rock’s status as an action movie star, his uncanny charisma and his unbridled character are all key factors in his placement on the list.
We all know that in this time and day social media is integrated into our everyday lives in our work, education, communication, leisure time, new we can use it for almost anything and everything but can people like “the rock” use his widespread social media following effectively to sweep the election
Embracing Social Media
To get anywhere today you have to be able to embrace the power and influence of social media in the modern world, President Obama was the first president to successfully leverage social media before it became as universal as it is today. His AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, the popular networking site, quickly became one of the most popular threads of all time. Part of the campaign strategy was to reach minority groups and young voters which proved to be highly effective in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush even have Instagram and Snapchat to reach the growing number of users who prefer these platforms, both are actually the first candidates to use Snapchat to announce their bid for the presidential nomination, given the success of these campaigns, it is not surprising to see most of the presidential candidates active on Facebook and Twitter.
Targeting Millennials
The message here? Social media will undoubtedly play a major role in the upcoming election, which is already did in donald trump’s cases
The ability to reach the millennial demographic is an important part of campaign efforts, and the reason? is simple it is because young adults are shifting more and more of their attention to online social networks and therefore candidates are naturally integrating social media in their campaigns to be able stand out to millennials.
The importance of social media in elections has been studied extensively. One study published in 2012 found that Facebook feeds have a significant impact on voting patterns. The findings indicate that certain messages increased turnout directly and indirectly by a total of 340,000 votes.
According to research from Ipsos Mori, social media has the potential to have more of an impact for 18 to 24 year olds and more than a third which is 34% of this group indicated that reading something on social media would influence their vote, second only to televised debates. This is yet another reason why the presidential candidates are increasing their ad spending budgets on social networks.
Another study found that 41% of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 had participated in some kind of political discussion or activity online, This included things from sharing a video from a presidential candidate to tweeting about world events.
As the election nears, spending on social media will increase without a doubt, to encourage more people to vote and the presidential candidates will be more active to reach their target demographic. It is also certain that the candidates will continue to use social networks to generate support and even raise funds. As the presidential election draws nears, its is obvious that social media has become the game changer, using the influence of social media has and will continue to improve each presidential candidates’ chances of winning the election.
- Future Political Effectiveness Is Going to Be Based on Social Networks Because that is Where “Trust Filters” Operate. Politicians often disagree not just on interpretations, but on the facts. Increasingly, people are using their personal networks to fact-check claims, evaluate the quality of information, and alert them to what is important in the world, these developments can allow individuals and their networks to “act like broadcasters and publishers” and therefore transform the nature of political communications. Those people who are seeking to engage citizens and get them involved in the political process must win the trust of social networks to be influential during the contemporary period. Future political influence is going to be network-based because those are the “filters” used to access and evaluate political information. Unless you can get past those trust filters, you will not be able to engage the public and influence the course of electoral events.
- Recognize that Campaign Organizations No Longer Control Electoral Discussions, But that Ideas Come from Grassroots Networks. As Mindy Finn suggested, “campaigns in 2012 will be more decentralized in terms of a politician’s control over debate topics and more focused around social networks”. One of the new ways social media affects the election is that people are organizing their own networks and through these networks bring up question candidates will be forced to answer even though they may not want to. Political advocacy should take advantage of these networks to set up things like the agenda and drive civic discussions. Research suggests that trusted news sources are most persuasive with voters so drawing on existing social networks represents a valuable way to affect national conversations.
- Employ Facebook Comments and Status Updates to Drive Civic Conversations. According to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, “22 percent of Facebook users comment on someone else’s post during a typical day and 20 percent comment on somebody’s photo”. Forty-four percent of social media users say they update their status at least once a week, and among young people aged 18 to 22, that number rises to 73 percent. The recurring, personal interactivity showed by this behavior creates a possibility for candidates, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to engage people and drive civic conversations. Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking tools make it possible to extend conversations virtually and reach large numbers of individuals.
- Create Virtual Opportunities for Citizen Feedback and Deliberation. Government agencies and political candidates should be inspired to develop feedback mechanisms that allow American voters to talk back to political elites. One of the most bothersome developments in the present-day period is the massive citizen disconnection from politics and feeling of alienation on the part of voters. Social media offer ways to reconnect citizens and leaders, and create more of a sense of public responsiveness and accountability.
- Embed Social Media Commentary in News Coverage. White House Director of Digital Strategy Macon Phillips says “that social media create a new model of civic engagement that blends traditional with social media.” Increasingly, he also points out, reporters are following Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and incorporating the voices of ordinary people in news reporting.
- Use Social Media for Direct Persuasion. The Pew Internet & American Life project survey found at the time of the 2010 election that 23 percent of Americans “had tried to convince someone to vote for a specific candidate” and 10 percent “had attended a political rally”. With the help of social media, ordinary citizens can become agents of persuasion and leverage their personal network for whatever values, issue positions, or ideological stances that they believe in. There is no reason why future elections should not be engaging . With the issues we face in the different areas of different policies, we should use technology to involve people in these campaigns.
- Improve the Diversity of Information Dissemination and Exposure Through Social Media. No longer does politics have to be an echo chamber where people of like-mindedness listen to one another, technology enriches political conversation and engagement. People are exposed to more views than they were in the past, more diverse and different views This enriches national dialogues and allows people to get the kind of information that helps them evaluate candidates and policy ideas.
- Create New Opportunities for Engagement Through Mobile Communications. Smart phones enable activists to reach an entirely new audience and involve them in the political process. According to surveys undertaken by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “26 percent of Americans used mobile devices at the time of the 2010 election.” By enabling people to access information and social networks on the go, this technology speeds up the news cycle and places more on electronic resources. This includes information from policy briefs and videos to online advertisements.
All these methods are ways social media can influence the elections, now if you take someone like dwayne johnson his ability to influence the world is on a much larger scale than a lot of people his reach extends all over the world he is able to spread ideas and build his candidacy if he uses his influence in the right way, he is already very well know, so when he applies for presidency his loyal fan will support him but pre-awareness can also backfire his past mistakes may be amplified by haters and people who are against his campaign which can cause a lot of issues to arise
http://ypp.dmlcentral.net/sites/all/files/publications/YPP_Survey_Report_FULL.pdf
http://www.newsweek.com/dwayne-johnson-changing-hollywood-one-social-media-post-time-436028
https://twitter.com/TheRock?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
http://www.wwe.com/article/rock-one-worlds-most-influential-people
