The election season is one of the most important periods of time for a citizen of the United States. Every four years the country is glued to their television screens or their phones for much of the year as political candidates are named and the announcement of a new president, or a second term for the current president is announced. Opinions on political matters are also shared more often and with higher magnitude as the rise of social media has continued with users able to use share their opinions to a wide audience at any time. Despite all this, the voting turnout for presidential elections and voting on issues has been down for quite some time, especially for the young adult and college student crowd. The crowd of young adult voters that
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In fact, it would seem to be quite the opposite. It is still quite common for young adults to post their political opinions on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, as a study published by the Pew Research Center states that, “66% of social media users (39% of American adults) have engaged in one of eight civic or political activities with social media.” Political debates also often ask the viewers to get involved with the debate itself by giving out hashtags for users to join in on the conversation, and some television channels like CNN have tweets go across the bottom of the screen that have the opinions of the viewers watching. Advertising campaigns are also more rampant and expensive than ever, as according to an article published by NPR, also known as Non-profit radio, it is stated that, “Political TV ad spending will top $4.4 billion for federal races this year, up from $3.8 billion in 2012.” Despite all this, it has not translated to more votes for the elections. For an outsider looking into the situation, it may not make very much sense. Clearly, voting is a very important right for a citizen to have, and if the citizens that have a strong opinion about a certain issue or candidate decide to not vote at all, they could be the reason an issue passes, even if the issue passing or candidate winning may not be the best one for a certain state or
In fact, it would seem to be quite the opposite. It is still quite common for young adults to post their political opinions on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, as a study published by the Pew Research Center states that, “66% of social media users (39% of American adults) have engaged in one of eight civic or political activities with social media.” Political debates also often ask the viewers to get involved with the debate itself by giving out hashtags for users to join in on the conversation, and some television channels like CNN have tweets go across the bottom of the screen that have the opinions of the viewers watching. Advertising campaigns are also more rampant and expensive than ever, as according to an article published by NPR, also known as Non-profit radio, it is stated that, “Political TV ad spending will top $4.4 billion for federal races this year, up from $3.8 billion in 2012.” Despite all this, it has not translated to more votes for the elections. For an outsider looking into the situation, it may not make very much sense. Clearly, voting is a very important right for a citizen to have, and if the citizens that have a strong opinion about a certain issue or candidate decide to not vote at all, they could be the reason an issue passes, even if the issue passing or candidate winning may not be the best one for a certain state or