The Internet's Effect On Political Parties

The Internet's effect on political parties has always been present but it recently became very prevalent, especially in this year’s presidential election. It was present in many ways from social media, to Internet polls and even emails. The two frontrunners of the presidential election, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, were very involved in the media, as they consistently posted to various social media sites. The two then candidates really used the internet to their advantage and used it as a tool to help them gain the edge over their opponent. The media can be a good and also a bad thing in politics, but it just depends on how one uses it. Many people have the ability to dig up anything one has said and/or posted on the internet but many …show more content…
The author’s main point in writing this journal was to show how the media has played a significant effect on political participation. While going over this topic, the article states how the participation in voting has gone up in the younger generation. It discusses social media, and the effect it has on the younger generation, more specifically, how it influences their vote. The journal states that while using the American National Election Surveys (NES) data and multivariate analysis, they found that “from 1996 to 2000 with access to the internet they were more likely to report voting for the presidential elections.” (177) In the 2000 election, when the online news about that year’s election was increased or was more prevalent in the social media there was a 7 to 12 percent increase in voting. This survey helps prove that the media has a big part in how many people vote in that year's election. “From the 1960’s to the 1970’s there was a big spike in the differences in communication can alter the outcome of the election.” (177) Before the 1960’s the main way that the candidates communicated with the voters was usually done in party conversations or speaking in front of groups. In the later years after the 1960’s, the ways of communication changed. “ Making media (television and newspapers) the most important link between candidates and the public.” Later in that passage the journal states, Many researchers attribute lower voter turnout to media coverage, others find that the media (television and newspapers) is instrumental in increasing the voters knowledge about political issues and topics. The next major topic that is discussed in this journal is “Does the Internet Impact Citizen Participation?” The younger generation has more exposure to the political views of other people