1

Mass Media & Society Term Paper

 2

Introduction

In this term paper, "How social media have changed politics" is selected as the topic. In the

modern era, social media has provided better results in politics. Political leaders use social

media to share and post the election news and information to target the voters on the large

scale (Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa, 2014, p. 1-425). The election parties use social media to

advertise the election through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other channels for election

campaigns in the Canadian country. The main aim of this paper is to focus on the social

media that has changed the results in politics. The social trends are supportive to give better

outcomes in the election as well as social work in the societies, cities and other areas. Social

media is an important source to advertise the election campaign during the election and social

activities in Canada.

Discussion

Social media plays a vital role in politics where Canadian interact with their elected officials.

The Canadian election parties use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to share the election and

political information. The use of social media is also more accountable to voters and elected

officials (Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa, 2014, p. 1-425). There are some options where social

media has changed politics. First, the election parties have made direct contact with voters

through social media for sharing political content. It has identified that social media allows

politicians to reach voters through earned media and paid advertisement. As per the survey

result, 43% of the online Canadian adults share political opinions on social media and 23% of

participants share the data monthly. As per result, 56% of 18-24-year-old Canadians share

political opinions on social media and 34% are aged people where they share the political

information (Dubois et al., 2018, p. 1).

According to Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa (2014, p. 1-425), the internet is the part of social

media that is using by the election parties, the government of Canada to reach the voters
 3

during the election. Digital media platforms have changed the nature of political

participation. The social media tools are effective in the social and political-economic change

in Canada. For example, political journalists are using social media for communicating

breaking news with the public, friends and contact lists. They also use this method to get

instant responses in politics (McGoveran, 2013, p. 1-14). The people react or give respond to

political messages in real-time. It can be said that this technology has given better results in

election campaigns.

Second, the political parties share the campaigns by using Facebook and Twitter and other

sources to the voters. This option is important to target the voters to get the vote during

elections. In Canada, the Bloc Quebecois party achieved the 66% result in sharing the

political opinions, campaigns and events whereas the Green party has the highest ratio on

social media. NDP, Liberal and Conservative parties have the normal results to share the

political news, information and videos (Dubois et al., 2018, p. 1).

Third, social media is also effective to tailor the message to the audience. The political

campaigns provide the information to the voters where they give reply through social media

(Vergeer, 2013, p. 9-17). It has identified that 18-24 years youth are interested to select

friends for sharing political views. 37% results are based on shared views and 26% results in

different views whereas 55+ aged people share the political information to friends that are

20% in shared views and 18% in different views (Dubois et al., 2018, p. 1). As per the result,

it can be said that the parties use social media to vote for their support in Canada. They

receive the responses and suggestions to voters for giving a vote on a large scale. But, it can

be argued that some parties focus on social media to create political issues like share wrong

information, participation and communication (Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa, 2014, p. 1-425).

Fourth, social media has given better results in the elections but it has created controversy in

a Canadian election. For example, the Canada Minister of democratic institutions focused on
 4

the cyber-attack threats that affected the Canadian elections. In this situation, the Canadian

minister committed to solving the issues with social media companies. Self-regulation is not

working to regulate online advertising (Bannerman, 2018, p. 1). Social media is supportive to

reduce the time of the political parties and help to increase the number of voters. But, it has

identified that some people share the wrong information that affects the political results.

Fifth, the political parties are focusing on comfort in the elections by using social media. As

per social media data, 24% of online Canadian adults are comfortable whereas 16% of

journalists are comfortable as well as 17% of political parties are comfortable considering the

social media data (Dubois et al., 2018, p. 1). It can be said that the political parties receive

feedback from voters and suggest following the party. The voters and parties feel relax by

reducing the issues of the voters. It has analyzed that the political parties and elected officials

share the information with political leaders by using social media to create awareness about

campaigns. The society members, people in cities and country gather the information

regarding the social benefits (Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa, 2014, p. 1-425). They get the

information and working system as well as schemes through social media. The political

leaders have the group and post the information of the schemes, pension policies and other

benefits where people get the information.

Sixth, social media is also effective to give results in fundraising in politics. The political

parties also focus on the donate money by using Twitter and Facebook. The campaigns help

to gather the fund from the voters or public to support the poor people in the Canadian

country (Francoli, 2014, p. 133-144). The parties communicate with people through social

media to get better results in the social work and elections (Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa,

2014, p. 1-425). It can be said that this option has provided benefits to the people. The

political leaders have developed a relationship with voters and targeted on the large scale due

to social work.
 5

Seventh, social media has increased the direct interaction with politicians in Canada. It has a

positive impact on politics. It is an opportunity for voters to interact with elected officials. It

can be said that if the voters want to meet with politicians then they can attend live streaming

events. They also get the poll results during the election on social media and share others.

The voters also have remembered the results of past elections to select the right candidate in

the next election in future (Hirst, Harrison and Mazepa, 2014, p. 1-425). They can also know

the background and working role through social media and give vote as per their decisions.

As per results, it has identified that social media has changed the political economy and social

relations in the modern era. The political leaders and parties are using social media for getting

online voting in future. It has identified that polling techniques on social media will be more

effective and accurate to give the final results. The change in politics is needed to consider

the political economy in Canada. The large social media environment has affected the politics

where the government of Canada focused on the election results, campaigns, social events

and campaigns. The new information and communication technologies like social media have

increased the quality of the democracy and political process (Revparl.ca, 2013, p. 1). The

election parties have to follow the election law for social media as well as administration

rules for political advertising. Finally, it has analyzed that social media is an effective and

important part of political advertising and communication (Pal, 2020, p. 200-213).

Conclusion

As per the above discussion, it can be concluded that social media has played a vital role in

politics, elected officials and social works. In Canada, adults are using social media to share

poll information, candidate's details and works, social benefits and other works. The voters

gather information about the election and support the right candidates. The Canadian

parliament has also supported social media that is giving better results in the political

economy. As per result, it has identified that some political leaders share the wrong
 6

information in the politics that affect the election results and people views. The Canadian

government has made the legal rules, acts and legislation to the social media. It is because if

the leaders use the wrong information and create the issues in the political economy then it

can take the right actions. Finally, it can be suggested that internet voting, as well as social

media channels, will change politics in the future.

 7

References

Bannerman, S. (2018). Preventing social media from interfering in Canadian elections.

Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/preventing-social-media-from-

interfering-in-canadian-elections-93565

Dubois, E., Gruzd, A., Mai, P., & Jacobson, J. (2018). Social Media and Political

Engagement in Canada.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jenna-Jacobson-2/publication/

330380306_Social_Media_and_Political_Engagement_in_Canada/links/

5db4bc78299bf111d4d0438f/Social-Media-and-Political-Engagement-in-Canada.pdf

Francoli, M. (2014). Exploring the Concept of the “Social Media Campaign”.

In Transforming politics and policy in the digital age (pp. 133-144). IGI Global.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Exploring-the-Concept-of-the-

%E2%80%9CSocial-Media-Francoli/2f97a6947184c3403a35f5b0f18687201c6f7fde?

p2df

Hirst, M., Harrison, J., & Mazepa, P. (2014). Communication and new media: From

broadcast to narrowcast. Oxford University Press.

https://49thshelf.com/Books/C/Communication-and-New-Media

McGoveran, C. (2013). Evaluating the uses and realizing the benefits of social media use in

politics. https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/15995/3136.pdf?

sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Pal, M. (2020). Social Media and Democracy: Challenges for Election Law and

Administration in Canada. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 19(2),

200-213. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/elj.2019.0557

Revparl.ca, (2013). Assessing the Potential of New Social Media. Retrieved from:

http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?param=215&art=1531
 8

Vergeer, M. (2013). Politics, elections and online campaigning: Past, present... and a peek

into the future. New media & society, 15(1), 9-17.

https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/116613/116613-OA.pdf?

sequence=1