The Impact of Social Media on Political Activism

Purpose: I will inform my audience about the various ways in which social media impacts political activism.

Central Idea: Social media is influential in political activism because it can promote activism efforts, transmit messages in a variety of ways, and influence those with positive social media experiences to engage in offline activism efforts.

INTRODUCTION:

(Attention Grabber) My first experience with political social media was with my grandfather. He would email me links to political facebook posts multiple times a day - most ended up in my spam folder. Now, social media use surrounding political issues has evolved for most of us to extend beyond emails from our grandparents.

(Reveal Topic) The use of social media has had a profound impact on how we perceive and engage with the political world around us.

(Credibility Statement) My extensive research on this topic and personal experience with social media politics on Twitter and Instagram gives me the knowledge and first-hand experience needed to speak on this topic.

(Relevancy Statement) You've all seen posts on twitter, facebook, and instagram about politics. Maybe you've been the one making the posts. Politics is practically unavoidable on social media, and we all should *** research on percentagesnot persuave laguanges know how it impacts us. Question? This is an every day part of our lives

(Preview) Social media directly affects activism efforts in both positive and negative ways, transmits various types of messages, and encourages those with positive social media experiences to engage in offline activism efforts.

Transition: As social media continues to affect our daily lives, it has various influences on political activism efforts

BODY:

Main Point 1: There are pros and cons to using social media to promote activism efforts.

Activism through social media may lead to low quality commentary, but has had impact on formal political decision-making.

While activism through social media is efficient, it could lead to an increase in low quality or irrelevant commentary (Breuer et. al., 2012)

For example, grassroots campaigns have a positive influence on activism goals, but self-expression and individualistic posts do not influence formal decision making (Breuer et. al., 2012)

Social media grassroots campaigning has helped laws get passed.

Social media helped The MCCE's Ficha Limpa campaign pass in Brazil (Breuer et. al, 2012)

The bill was unpopular with legislators because it prevented the election of people who had been convicted of a crime, which meant 25% of sitting legislators would become ineligible (Breuer et. al., 2012)

Once the bill went viral on Twitter and other social medias, it was passed unanimously (Breuer et. al., 2012)

Social media usage in Taiwan's elections, such as the mayoral election in Taipei, impacted the election results. (Wang, et. al, 2016)

Wen-Je Ko, the election winner, was studied and it was found that the internet was a key factor in his victory (Wang, et. al., 2016)

Wen-Je Ko's published articles and general publicity on the internet were far greater than his opponent (Wang, et. al., 2016)

Transition: The Ficha Limpa and Taiwan mayoral campaigns are examples of campaigns that moved people for a cause. Part of the reason these campaigns were so successful is because of the way they transmitted their messages.

Main Point 2: Social media platforms transmit influential information. (Jost et. al, 2018)

Social media spreads a variety of information in different ways.

Some social media circulates images of violence at political events and discourage attendance (Jost et. al., 2018)

Other images give the perception of large group involvement in events, which leads to social pressure, which increases attendance.

Social media spreads both informational and motivational influences to political action (Jost et. al, 2018)

Motivation is influenced by moral outrage, social identification, and group efficacy (Jost et. al, 2018). These three factors are key in influencing individuals to take action, and social media perpetuates these factors.

One example is ISIS, which circulates images of themselves winning battles to recruit members (Krzy??anowski et. al, 2018)

Transition: In order to motivate people, individuals must enjoy what they're doing. That's why those with positive social media experiences tend to engage offline.

Main Point 3: Whether or not someone participates in offline political efforts directly connects to their experiences with politics on social media.

Those who engage with politics on social media and have a positive experience are more likely to engage in offline methods of participation (Kwak et. al, 2018)

Those with negative experiences are more likely to avoid politics on social media and are subsequently less likely to engage in offline participation (Kwak, et. al., 2018)

CONCLUSION:

Social media impacts the political landscape by influencing activism in positive or negative ways, transmitting various types of messages, and even being the determining factor in offline activism.

The next time you get an email from your grandparents about the next big thing in their political world, or you see the long facebook post from that annoying neighbor you can't unfollow, remember that social media politics plays a big role in our changing political landscape.

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