It's Election Day! No matter how you feel about this years election process, we can all agree that we are witnessing history. This cycle has seen many firsts, including the saturation of social media platforms. Over the past few months, Snapchat stories and Saturday Night Live skits have covered the political storm, but today, the campaign has bombarded every channel. On Snapchat alone, you will notice that there are over four filters referencing the candidates, America and pushing users to go vote. Most all paid publishing stories on Snapchat are writing on this topic, including multiple crowd sourcing stories of people voting all over the nation. Cosmopolitan's and Vogue's entire stories are completely focused on the election, even urging viewers to vote for a certain candidate. Instagram is no different, the infamous "I Voted" selfie will be ever present on your timeline today. Both brands and celebrities are using their influence to get people out to the polls. On your Facebook feed you will likely come across multiple videos referencing the either Clinton or Trump in positive and negative lights, hoping to persuade your decision today.
Any way you slice the cake, it's pretty special that we can all communicate in the context of this election as a nation, in a digital space that we partake in everyday. It brings a fun aspect to this serious election and is effective in encouraging citizens to get excited, care, and take action. Below is a sample of posts I have seen today!
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| A snap on Vogue's Story |
My last post was over celebrities use of instagram to voice their opinion, so I'm glad you touched on this as well! It's very interesting to compare this election to the last when snapchat wasn't a popular platform as well as instagram. It was a time when social media was just getting its foot in the door, and I think we can all see the difference it has made this time around. What's more interesting will be what will happen in 2020 with technology and social media growing even further.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Sav! I was thinking the same thing earlier today - both parties are really trying to reach the millennial audience with all of the different Snapchat geofilters that have been sponsored over this campaign season.
ReplyDeleteThe election has definitely been dominating social media for the past few months. While I think it is good because it gets others very involved and aware of current issues and topics being discussed, I do think it became a bit too much. I love looking at buzzFeed, but there would be 20 post in a row all related to the elections, which just got old. I think it is important to have a presence on social media without over doing it. I am also looking forward to the 2020 election to see how social media plays a role then.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a relevant post! I have been logged out of my Facebook for over two weeks.. there is too much election hate and clutter for me to even care to login.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing your perspective on the election posts! I think it's interesting to note how much of a marketing tool retail companies use it as. Companies can gain loyalty and attachment to their brand while also encouraging people to vote.
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