Social media is one of politics biggest allies today. Whether that be as a platform to share news, opinions, etc. it can connect politicians to mass groups of people both quickly and successfully. However, with opinions come disagreements… Obviously the reason there are different political parties, with the main two being Democratic and Republican, is because everyone thinks differently and has different stances on different topics. In the past this was how people voted for their preferred candidate party. But with the rise in popularity of social media, many are using it as an outlet to express their personal opinions or concerns on the political world and this is causing a mass issue of polarization. 

By definition, political polarization is “the divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes”. For the most part without social media, this extreme divergence was much less if not existent at all. Specifically, the 2016 and 2020 elections have seen a strong pull in change from disagreements to full blown “cancel culture”. Cancel culture is when a person or celebrity says something to the public, or on social media that people might not agree with and because so instead of educating that person, they are “cancelled”. This basically is full blown exile from public acceptance and could affect that person’s platform drastically to the point of putting current or future employment in danger. 

On the other hand without social media, the public would not even be able to hold that kind of power to hold someone accountable at a national level. But again, at what cost could this power have on a person’s life? As we’ve seen, this kind of polarization created by social media can be dangerous and sometimes even fatal. For example, the riots that took place outside the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021 were created out of former President, Donald Trump’s, remarks on how he had not lost the election that took place in November. Student Olivia in a New York Times article on the matter states, “They defaced flags, tore apart the democratic procedures that they apparently supported like a group of sulky toddlers all fighting over who got the cherry lollypop, and began the destruction of a symbol of worldwide freedom.” This created a divide that was so extreme that Trump supporters genuinely believed he won the election and violently protested against President Biden’s win. The polarization that Trump created on Twitter that created this chaos ended in the permanent suspension of his account as a result.

Political polarization at first glance may sound just like a divide between ideas. For example pro-choice vs pro life, pro gun vs anti gun, for or against the death penalty, etc. For the most part each political party or candidate sides with one of these issues and not the other and that is how people find who they most identify with. But social media has taken these to a whole new level that make political polarization a true threat to the United States democracy and political system as a whole. Platforms such as Instagram and Twitter allow people to repost other people’s or companies posts. For instance, if someone on Instagram posts an illustration that is anti-abortion on their timeline, people can take that post and repost it to their “stories” which are shown on their page for 24 hours. Notes, comments, etc. can be posted on top of it expressing their interest in the topic/illustration which is then shown to all of their followers. The problem with this is that these posts and comments are so biased that it basically strips away an alliance from half of that person’s followers who are most likely in favor of the opposition which in this case would be pro-abortion. 

The track that this will take us on is a very dark one because it’s taking away any room for disagreement and leaving it to a right and wrong answer for everything in this world. When voting this could mean that there will be even more aggressive protests for parties, cyber abuse on social media, etc. Many have seen this take a toll on friendships and even families because it seems like there is only one option in politics. The best solution to solve and further prevent political polarization from social media would be to leave space for open conversation and discussion. A lot of the time social media is made to be one sided and it’s almost like the users are lecturing their followers rather than sharing their ideas with them. Discussion is essential in politics and this is what will prevent polarization from destroying our nation.

Sources:

https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/political-polarization/