Joe Marchese has a fascinating article on "The Social Media Mirror". I especially am mulling over the idea that Social Media is "an online reflection of the social interactions people have in the real world. Social media is a way of more efficiently managing and enhancing people's capacity to communicate with other people."
I agree and I don't. Social media seems to reflect, but it also is different than my social interactions in the real world. I believe if it is a mirror it has as much power to refract as it does to reflect.
Obama's social media strategy has worked it's magic - I was fascinated by his website, the viral videos, the Facebook pages and all of these made me more prone to investigate him as a candidate. Did I vote in my primaries because of his social media campaign? Yes. Was I excited to? Yes. Did I ask the lady at the polling place how a registered Republican could vote for the Democrat? Yep. Do I normally engage in politics? Not in the slightest.
Don't get me wrong. I believe in voting and have been since I was 18, but I didn't engage in debates or try to talk to my friends about politics.
Maybe Social Media is just a mirror. But for me it was an influence as well.
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