Such values such as freedom of speech and freedom of press, which have always been so fundamental to the “American model” of democracy, have in the past decades gained countless new avenues of expression and ways to reach out across the country and across the globe. Individuals now have as much of a presence in the social media cloud as many professionals and celebrities do, and their opinions can be viewed and commented upon by just as many other media participants. A striking field in which we can see this new social power take hold is politics. For as long as there have been democracies and republics, the people’s opinions have been voiced in one way or another. The stones ancient ruins of Rome and Greece still sometimes scrawled with political graffiti of the time, proclaiming, “Up with Person A, Down with Person B.” In ancient Athens, their form of democracy entailed that every citizen make their opinion present, since they all represented themselves. It seems that since the spread of political opinion is so instant and available, the equivalent of painting a rallying cry or slogan on the Roman Forum walls, there are more individually specific political views circulating. This can also be attributed to the simultaneous availability of enormous amounts of information and misinformation that the Internet holds.
This is not to say that citizens should not have their own personal political views and make them known; in a way, this sort of social media facilitation of private opinion helps diversify the societal atmosphere, and makes politicians more aware of what they need to accomplish for their constituents. There are even recent phone apps to help aspiring politicians figure out who their best constituents may be. The main issue is that people who may not necessarily have a full understanding or even a real political opinion are then called on to choose sides, and in response to that, politicians or other figures who are present in social media can make claims to please their audience superficially by making the “cool” choice.
This is not a political situation or tactic at any means exclusive to the modern social media situation. Whenever and wherever there are officials who rely on the trust of the people for their power, there have been some such officials who play off of their society’s superficial wants or appealed solely to their perception of a public role model. On both sides of the American political spectrum, for example, there are examples of “hollow campaigns”, or politicians staying within the realm of what is popular and socially admired by the majority.
Like I said, this attitude towards politics will never go away, especially because, above all, it works: these people get elected to their positions, and it is not until they are in the position of power can the voters see exactly what they represented. Social media has given a significant rise to this approach to politics in more developed nations, especially since it simultaneously spreads the reinforcing concept of these popular trends that politicians are personifying. Unfortunately the research and in-depth understanding of specific representatives’ platforms is not as popular as simply following them on twitter or sharing their facebook status. All I’m saying is that the social media should not be the sole source of political information for potential voters. Both the political and social presence of the individuals who can affect change in our stead should be the priority, and though no society will ever purely have such focus, I think that when the information is as available as the internet makes it, then we should be closer to it than we are.