The Importance and Vice of Mass Media
The media and internet are helpful and accessible ways for individuals of all backgrounds, ages, and political orientations to seek and gather information about recent politics. Social media, in particular, has becoming more of an area for political discourse than in previous times rather than an outlet for merely sharing weekly updates about individual's lives. For example, Rosenblatt (2021) highlights how the social media platform TikTok was utilized as an incredibly innovative and educational route for younger voters to gather information about Georgia Primaries. In this article, younger content creators were exposing younger voting generations to the experience of voting and politics by posting videos online, showing how integral it is to voice political opinions through voting in elections. Using social media as a political forum for advocacy and education was an incredibly influential way to reach the attention of newer voters and show them in an entertaining yet educational manner how important their voices are in the overall scheme of politics and government.
However, a vice of mass media lies in the notion that it is fast, inexpensive, and sometimes is not the most objective when individuals are seeking education. Credibility and neutrality are vital characteristics when consuming media surrounding politics, but many politicians and news outlets specifically target individuals that they believe will follow their content, in which various campaigns directly target individuals through "geo-targeted" ads and by collecting personal information through online databases (West, 2017). Additionally, hearing discussions and engaging in conversations with people who share different political ideology is incredibly important in framing political opinions. Exposure to outside viewpoints is a great method to find common ground and is a wonderful attempt at finding the most objective form of political media. However, targeted ads and online filters can increasingly limit this exposure and cause many individuals to continue to self-confirm their own ideas and not have opportunities to challenge their perspectives (Bennett, 2016). It is imperative that individuals are able to discern the intentions of targeted media, whether they may be contacted for authentic and informative purposes or if they are being targeted merely for the monetary benefit of the news outlet.
As time progresses, mass media will continue to evolve and wedge itself more prominently in people's daily lives. At the end of the day, filtering out political sources that prey on individuals solely for their political views and diverting attention towards objective news outlets, regardless of political orientation, is going to be one of the most important factors moving forward.
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I think media has its pros and cons when becoming intertwined in politics. I'm glad that you pointed out social media's place in encouraging young voters to vote in the primaries. The multiplication of communication channels in media has allowed us to spread information at a faster rate to a wider audience. The modernization of journalism allows for a change in perspective, people who aren't journalists are reporting news firsthand from smartphones through apps on the internet. An issue with this mass spread of information is credibility. Media algorithms can affect what information we see and can effect how we view our politicians depending on the "facts" of that information.
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