COMS 427 | Olivia and Véronique

In recent years, social media had played an integral part in different political processes. Many political campaigns rely on the use of these platforms to influence youth knowledge and participation in voting decisions. The Egyptian Presidential Election in 2014 and the more recent Québec election are proof of the impact and reach that networking sites can have on citizens. The purpose of this blog post is to look at how social media has affected election campaigns, but also continues to long after. Perhaps the most obvious example is Donald Trump’s digital campaign during his presidential election. It’s safe to say that his active participation on Twitter has been controversial. We begin to wonder if social media is indeed a positive thing for democracy. There are definitely benefits and drawbacks to these networking platforms. First, social media are platforms that allow open and free discussions in the context of a public sphere. In a democracy, it is important for people to expre...

Welcome to our blog that we’re writing for class #COMS427. Last week, Victoria from class shared an article on her Twitter page that we found interesting and raised an important topic. The famous rapper Kanye West has been raising awareness on his Twitter page about the psychological consequences that can arise from social media. He continued, in a series of tweets, to challenge the inherent norms of platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, stating that we should be able to participate in social media with the option of not having to show your followers or likes . What kind of content would people be posting if they didn’t get instant gratification in forms of “likes” in return? The rapper raises a good point in that social media following has an immense impact on our self-worth, and this is very worrisome. The mentioned tweets make us think of the “uses and gratifications theory” explained by Whiting and Williams. This theory argues “that individuals will seek out media a...