Social Media: The new political platform Pat Almquist Deanna Alrutz Blair Brown Alexis Davis Elizabeth Sager Emily Tracy

Executive Summary Social media is a constantly growing form of communication Most users are in the age range of 18-32 25% of voters in the 2008 election fell in this age range

Executive Summary Could social media be used to influence voters? A survey was conducted to determine perceptions of social media’s influence The survey also helped determine if participants were politically aware

Executive Summary Social Media can influence voters in elections because of reach The average participant was politically aware People trust online sources

First considerable shift toward new, nontraditional media Voter participation among internet users increased to 12% because of sophistic websites and user-friendly means of online donation The internet provided a new way to encourage people to vote and reach larger and different demographics 7 of the top 10 online chat topics were political more than 6,700 new grassroots campaign sites appeared online after the 1996 election 2000 Election: Bush vs. Gore

2004 Election: Howard Dean Howard Dean’s campaign paved the way for political use of social media by introducing the first official blog and hosting political chats The internet was used for a host of activities relating to the campaign trail, including event invitations for campaign meetings, relevant political questions, and options for money donation The core of the population interacting with Dean’s social media accounts was young voters between the ages of 18 and 24; this is relevant because it meant there was a new way to mobilize the youngest constituency An important aspect of any campaign is mobilization, and Dean’s staff was able to use traditional forms of campaigning for experienced voters while still creating new opportunities for first-time voters online

2008 Election: McCain vs. Obama Nearly 75% of internet users went online for political information or participation Partisanship began influencing which sites people visited Sites like Twitter became information hubs, allowing users to discuss politics with their friends While Republicans were generally more likely to use the internet for political activity, the Democrats who did participate online were more involved than Republicans were, closing the gap. Video and social media proved themselves to be extremely useful means of communication, especially with college students (and younger voters in general) Blogs were used to generate interest, spread political info, and garner funds through online donations. College students active in social media were the largest source of online donations. 2008 Election: McCain vs. Obama

Research Questions Are people using the Internet to be open to new political ideas and candidates, or are they using the Internet to target their favorite candidate? Where do most people go online to find political information? How much do people use the internet, specifically social media, to discuss politics?

Research Methodology Brief online survey using SurveyMonkey Distributed via snowball probability sampling method Initial 100 responses utilized for results

Research Methodology Survey questions included measures of: Voter registration status Political awareness/involvement Political information sources Influential effects of social media websites Frequency of politics-related Internet usage Perceptions of online reliability The likelihood of following political candidates

Research Results Attempted to diversify student answers We understood that non-voting students affect results Most were politically aware and influenced by friends

Research Results

Research Results

Research Results 41% considered themselves somewhat politically aware 72.3% of students read political articles

Research Results 54.3% of students have voted in a political election for officials 42% of students access the Internet for political news

Research Results 30% of students would definitely follow their favorite candidate on social media sites 95% of students believe their friends can or might influence their political ideas

Research Results 60.2% students believe their political opinions can be influenced by social media 62% of students believe their political opinions can be sometimes be influenced by social media

Conclusions After conducting our survey, we discovered that results were consistent with our hypothesis. College-aged individuals access the Internet when they wish to learn more about a particular topic or politician.

Recommendations Population size must be larger for more representative sample Future studies should open the survey with a filter question More qualitative research options Case studies, focus groups, and unstructured response options

Recommendations Population size must be larger for more representative sample Future studies should open the survey with a filter question More qualitative research options Case studies, focus groups, and unstructured response options