By: Samantha Wood- Mosaic Staff Writer
Media Credit: MCT Campus
From Twitter to Facebook to Tumblr and everything in between, it seems like everyone and their mother has an opinion about the presidential election, and feels the need to share it on these sites. Or at least show that they are watching the debates to be included with the crowd. But are these sites helping or harming the public? What about the candidates?
Social media websites showcase every moment of the debates, ranging from news sources reporting about the political views of the debaters, to jokes making fun of the candidates. Especially on Twitter, almost all tweets are about the debates for live coverage, whether you want to see it or not.
Salve Regina University sophomore Jackie Crockwell said that she watched all of the debates because as a political science major, she is genuinely interested (as well as being required to by her classes). As for the excessive coverage of the debates on social networks, Crockwell said, “I’m usually one of ‘those people’.” While watching the debates, Crockwell says that she tweets live updates, like many other people, as well as reading the tweets of Romney, Ryan, President Obama, and Biden.
“During the debates I usually tweet about it and converse on Facebook with my friends,” she said. Crockwell thinks the rise of internet coverage of the debates helps instead of hinders. “I think the media does involve more young people, so I think in a way it’s good that people are getting involved, even if it’s making fun of them,” she said.
The candidates certainly are made fun of, as any phrase or image from the debate can become viral on the internet in a matter of seconds. Melanie Acevedo, Salve Regina sophomore, has experienced these first hand. “There are a lot of jokes about it now, and I’ve seen those memes making fun of them,” she said.
For those who may not be internet savvy, a meme is defined as “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture,” according to Webster dictionary. Romney’s “binders full of women” remark, along with “I love Big Bird” have sparked the most creation and spread of memes.
Acevedo explained that watching the debates wasn’t really a choice for her. Being roommates with Crockwell, she was “forced to” watch. Although their reasons for watching the debates may differ, both Acevedo and Crockwell agreed that the election should be taken more seriously than it is now, thanks to the internet and social media.
Meagan Anthony, junior at Salve Regina, agrees with Crockwell that the spread of social media has helped the public as a whole. “The avenues [the candidates] had before were giving speeches, and there are only so many places these candidates can be. They can give speeches and there can be newspaper articles, but I don’t know many kids who read that.” But Anthony explained that she, like most people her age, is on Facebook every day, so when information is included there it is much easier to stay up-to-date.
“Social media gives you a fast outlet. It’s easy, it’s accessible, and most of all it’s free,” said Anthony. “So it gives people the equal opportunity to see what each candidate stands for, to maybe be exposed to different aspects of the views, to be more adequately informed.”
Although Anthony supports the idea that the spread of information is beneficial for all, it can still have its drawbacks. Regarding Romney’s accidental creation of the “binders full of women” meme, Anthony says that he has had some “bad luck” with his wording, but his intentions were good. “I feel like the message he was trying to say was: ‘I want women and men to be equal, I want women to have input, I don’t want to have a boy’s club as my staff,’” said Anthony, “But at the same time, with his phrasing… people who didn’t get to watch [the debate] will just see the article that focuses on that, and he’ll lose the women demographic.” But social media and the rapid spreading of pretty much anything over the internet has turned this into a remark that will negatively affect his campaign.
Social media can turn serious political views into jokes, but Anthony stressed that the election must be taken seriously, and all students – all Americans – need to participate, as it decides the future of the country. “We have a right to vote, we have a right to have influence. We live in a democracy, and it would be abusing our power not to be politically informed.”
