Social media influenced voters immensely, many voters depended on social-media as a news source rather than a social network. In fact, “44% of the U.S. adults got information about the 2016 Presidential Election from social media” (Williams). For candidates, social media created a platform in which their visibility was maximized, thus its dense candidate use. Christine Williams of Bentley University also reports that, “…24% [of adults] got news and information from social media posts by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.” Seeing as a large percentage of voters received information regarding the election directly from the candidates, this gave the candidates not just a platform to increase their visibility, but also a platform to control their
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Clinton for instance initiated her candidacy in the Spring of 2015 tweeting: “I’m running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion – H” (tweet, April 12, 2015) (Enli). To anyone who exceeds the age of 25 it is a foreign concept that a presidential candidate would choose to announce their campaign via social media; rather, an elder would be find it more appropriate using television as a platform for such important announcements. However, this is not to say that social media has replaced the use of television regarding campaigns, rather television exists in tandem with social media. The communication of presidential candidates since the integration of social media in the election process has generated a requirement for “performance flexibility” (Enli). Meaning candidates must be able to be “moving comfortably between different format criteria and expectations, from the formal to the informal, from the professionalized to the personalized” (Enli). While this may appear to cause difficulty to candidates in balancing multiple mediums, it is now expected of candidate’s due to social medias heavy presence in civilians’ everyday life. In sum, due to social media being increasingly reliant by users as a direct news source, its importance may bypass the editorial media regarding a future
Clinton for instance initiated her candidacy in the Spring of 2015 tweeting: “I’m running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion – H” (tweet, April 12, 2015) (Enli). To anyone who exceeds the age of 25 it is a foreign concept that a presidential candidate would choose to announce their campaign via social media; rather, an elder would be find it more appropriate using television as a platform for such important announcements. However, this is not to say that social media has replaced the use of television regarding campaigns, rather television exists in tandem with social media. The communication of presidential candidates since the integration of social media in the election process has generated a requirement for “performance flexibility” (Enli). Meaning candidates must be able to be “moving comfortably between different format criteria and expectations, from the formal to the informal, from the professionalized to the personalized” (Enli). While this may appear to cause difficulty to candidates in balancing multiple mediums, it is now expected of candidate’s due to social medias heavy presence in civilians’ everyday life. In sum, due to social media being increasingly reliant by users as a direct news source, its importance may bypass the editorial media regarding a future