Politicians must catch up with new media
Social media has shaped a large part of our generation. We’re never without our phones and we’re constantly posting anything to our social media accounts.
We can gather information at a faster pace, and this has changed the way that people receive information as a whole.Ask a crowd of teenagers if they actually watch the news or read a newspaper, and the numbers will be slim.
More news sources are posting their stories online, and sites such as YouTube and Tumblr have become news platforms available to everyone, especially for the younger generations.
This new way of receiving information has started to gain some momentum in the government and has been used to the advantage of President Obama’s administration.
He’s the first president who’s actually trying to reach out and connect with the younger generations.
In fact, he’s the hippest President we’ve had. People talked for days about his BuzzFeed video and his interviews with YouTube stars Hank Green, Bethany Mota, and Glozell Green.
While most politicians use news shows such as CNN or NBC or even Fox News to reach their audiences, this isn’t going to be as effective when our generation becomes the target audiences for politicians. It’s no secret that most of the members of Congress are old white men who know next to nothing about technology.
It’s also pretty clear that they’re not going to be able to reach out and connect with our generation any time soon.
Politicians’ lack of understanding regarding the concerns of our generation and the technology of our generation is going to cause a huge rift between politicians and the voters. But we hope that this will change with time.
We’re the generation that is comfortable with change. There isn’t any way that politicians are going to reach out to us if they continue to use the same tactics they used on our parents and grandparents.
Future presidents and politicians should be cautious in how they’re addressing their audiences, because it may make or break their popularity and their chances in office.
The use of social media as a new tool for communication is something that’s happening and will continue to evolve as time goes on. If the generations before us don’t realize the importance of social media, there’s no way they’ll be able to communicate succesfully.