November 6th is an important day for the nation, with many expecting to see a blue wave sweep across Congress. Ever since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, Democrats have been campaigning and rallying for support of Democratic candidates and policies in order for this transition to occur. In recent years, politics has also seeped into political culture, with social media influencers and celebrities voicing their beliefs and support. In a time where these figures have such a strong influence over their fanbase, many believe that they can make a difference in encouraging people to vote, and who to vote for. Many have been following Kanye West’s very public endorsement of Donald Trump, which has resulted in much backlash and rejection from the African American community and many others. In fact, Beyonce, who used to be close friends with Kanye, is said to have severed ties with him over this situation. Today, Beyonce came out in support for Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Democratic Senate candidate, to her 119.9 million instagram followers. Lebron James also wore a Beto hat in support of the candidate last week, attracting lots of attention. In a situation as close as the Beto/Cruz race, the endorsement of these politicians by influential pop-culture figures may just give one the upper hand, pushing them across the finish line. Not only do these posts support a certain candidate, but they encourage voting in general, promoting our society to be more proactive and increase voter turnout. Even Taylor Swift, who has shied away from talking about politics in the past, released a statement encouraging people to “vote based on who most closely represents your values.” All of this activity has stirred much controversy about how celebrities can use their platforms to affect the outcomes of politics.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/entertainment/beyonce-beto-o-rourke/index.html
http://time.com/5418427/taylor-swift-politics/
Discussion Questions:
- Do media influencers and celebrities have enough power to sway the political climate? If yes, should they have this power?
- Should pop culture figures voice their political opinions? Or is it better to keep the two separate?
- How big of an impact do you think social media has had on revolutionizing political campaigns, and how might celebrities take this impact to the next level?
- To what extent do debacles like Trump and Kanye's friendship detract from the seriousness of politics?
I believe that it is not a matter of celebrities having enough power to sway the political climate, but instead a matter of the influence they have on their fanbase. I don't necessarily agree with this matter because personally, I would prefer if people read into propositions and candidates for themselves and formed their own political opinion instead of basing their vote on how their favorite celebrities choose to vote. Regarding question 3, I believe that social media has become a huge factor in political campaigns. Celebrities understand this and are able to gain publicity by getting involved in politics and make their views public.
ReplyDeleteI do not think media influences have enough power to sway any huge part of the political climate, but they can certainly influence less informed or single-issue voters to change the outcome of an election. To the more politically involved, a celebrity endorsement will only endear or vilify the celebrity, not change anybody's mind. I think there is absolutely no reason celebrities should not have this type of power. It is within their rights to express whatever they feel. It is up to the listener and voter to really look into what the celebrity is saying, how informed they are, and what interests they have in mind. That being said, pop culture figures should absolutely voice their opinions if they feel the need to. They just need to keep in mind that free speech is a double-edged sword, and speech may be used against them in certain cases and their public relations may take a hit. I think social media has had a polarizing effect on campaigns due to the hostile nature of arguments that occur. More often than not, celebrities will take up the same nasty tone and polarize many viewers. I don't think anything can really distract from the seriousness of a situation, but debacles like Trump-Ye can certainly distract from what is really important.
ReplyDeleteAs stated above, I think that celebrities definitely do have enough power to sway votes on smaller issues or people who are not as informed, and I think that this is an important use of their power. Celebrities have a built up fan base, with many loyal fans who listen to what they have to say. Leading up to the election, I saw multiple celebrities urging fans to vote via multiple social media platforms. I see no problems with this, as it encourages more voter turnout, which has been a big problem in the past. In terms of the role of celebrities' support of certain policies/ideals, I don't think they have enough power to sway people who have already decided where their vote will go.Ultimately, the votes is up to the people, and a celebrity casting their opinions does not appear to be a threat in any way.
ReplyDeleteTo address the third question, I believe that social media and it rising presence today can have a very big outcome on elections. Just from personal experience, I have not only seen celebrities, but also others from my community post and encourage others to vote. The easy access to different social media gives everybody a convenient way to share their opinions, which I think can benefit awareness about elections and political events. Especially because the U.S.'s voter turnout has been so low for, I think that this can be very useful since more Americans can have easier access to information about politics. In terms of celebrities, I support their decisions to encourage their fans and followers to go out and vote because it creates an environment in which the American public is made clear how important their votes are to the outcomes of crucial important elections. As for endorsing candidates, while celebrities should be free to express their opinions like everybody else, I think this would also create the possibility for a hostile and tense environment since social media is also an easy output for negative and attacking comments. Thus, endorsing a candidate could also create a lot of backlash and conflict.
ReplyDeleteAs anyone who lives in the U.S, celebrities are people who have their own opinions. I believe that it is fine that they write about their beliefs if they truly believe so and acknowledge the importance of responsible statements about politics as their statements are a very delicate matter (since the media is particularly interested in them). One definite plus of celebrities' engagement in politics is that their publicity is encouraging citizens to vote even more. The attention the polls got on social media is revolutionary. When I was on social media yesterday the majority of the posts I saw not only from celebrities but also from anyone I follow who is of voting age and not. This use of social media highly increased the voter turnout in these polls relative to past elections.
ReplyDeleteMedia influencers have immense power over several topics, including politics. Celebrities have easy access into millions of people lives and can easily put their opinion out in a matter of seconds. There is a reason media influencers are where they are, they are popular, they have somethings that people like, and because of that makes them specifically influencial to voters. I think there is no way to take away this power that they have, and so it is up to the media influencers whether or not they chose to spread their political beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI believe celebrities have a responsibility to engage their fans to vote and follow their civic duty. However, I am wary of influencers trying to impose their political beliefs on their fan base. This can develop into a dangerous culture of "follow the leader" where their fans will simply vote who their favorite celebrity likes. I do support the way celebrities are promoting the act of voting, but disapprove of their endorsement of political candidates.
ReplyDelete^ Jeremy Ho
DeleteI do not think social media influencers and celebrities have enough power to sway the political climate and have a huge impact on election turnouts due to the fact that their fan base is simply not large enough to sway the direction of votes drastically. To address the second question, I believe pop culture figures have the right to voice their opinions as long as they reflect their real opinions instead of using them to gain a larger following or more media attention. However, having celebrities voice their opinions to fans who look up to them as role models could have a negative impact because less-informed voters would just be voting based on their favorite celebrities’ opinions instead of taking the time to research and make their own informed decision. In today’s age of technology, social media and the Internet in general has had a huge impact on revolutionizing political campaigns due to the easy access of information online and the fact that people are more willing to voice their opinions using social media as a platform.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that celebrities can majorly influence elections. they can sway people to vote for someone but not in a way to majorly effect the election. Celebrities can voice their opinion but must understand what may happen if they do. celebrities voicing their opinion can turn their fans off them but that is a decision that they can freely make.
ReplyDeleteWe often encourage celebrities to use their influence to mobilize the public and get people out to the polls, and clearly all this "advertising" has helped in the recent election. California has just experience the highest voting turnout in decades this past elections and I believe that celebrities have contributed a lot to make this happen. It is true that these celebrities may be getting people to the polls but they are not necessarily informing the voters properly, dramatically influencing the results of the election. It may be more valuable to have more informed voters, but perhaps just getting to the polls and getting involved politically may inspire people to be more involved overall. Nevertheless, I do think celebrities have a big influence on elections and this influence will only grow in future elections.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the first question, I don't believe that celebrities have enough power to saw the political climate because in reality the people that focus mostly on celebrity culture and social media, like instagram tend to be a platform for younger users. And those younger social media user are not the ones that are going to the polls, unlike the older population, who focuses less on pop culture and more towards voting. However, I do believe that celebrity endorsements do start up conversations that are talked about all ages when different news media pick up the celebrities stories. Also, celebrities should be able to voice their opinions because they are able to reach a wide range of audience, and if there are some politicians that are unable to get to some of those audiences, then a celebrity would be able to relay that message into a wider audience. Celebrities take the new social age into the political arena in a big way, because of the amount of social media used and celebrities are able to reach more people and have more engagements with the audience.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question three, I believe social media does have a large impact, especially on revolutionizing political campaigns. President Trump's Twitter account is a prime example of how the 2016 presidential election changed due to social media. In Trump and Kanye's exchanges on Twitter and Instagram, the world was able to take part in sharing and giving their own opinions on that content. The power of social media continues to increase, and Trump being able to tweet about the 2016 election riled people up and allowed for him to connect with more people, especially younger supporters. Because many social media sites are geared towards a younger audience, I do believe that celebrities do have the opportunity to take this impact to the next level. They could start their own campaigns, use their money to provide resources to people, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs American citizens, celebrities are allowed to voice their opinions. Celebrities themselves do not have the power to singlehandedly sway elections because their fan base is simply not large enough. I think the best thing celebrities can do, however, is encourage people to get out and vote regardless of political stance. Although celebrities alone aren't a significant force in elections, I believe that social media as a whole is. Candidates spend millions of dollars on advertisements and endorsements to reach a broad audience, and social media only exaggerates this as it offers yet another medium for candidates to take advantage of. Although social media as a whole has been beneficial, it's also been a polarizing political force and given candidates active on social media an unfair advantage.
ReplyDeleteCelebrities are allowed to voice their opinions out regarding politics or the country as it is their right to do so. Although celebrities do hold some ability to influence elections, it is also important to know that the influence is very minimal and chances are, won't influence elections by a margin. However, although some people might blindly follow celebrities, others will most probably pay attention to other details and aspects before voting
ReplyDeleteI believe that celebrities do have the power to swing political climates due to the vast outreach and influence they posses on people. Celebrities should have the choice to voice their opinions if they choose to since they are people too. Social media has had a great impact in political campaigning since it is an effective way to reach younger voters and influence their political allegiance. It has also become another platform to mount political campaigns and reach out to a larger amount of the population.
ReplyDeleteMedia influencers and celebrities do have the power to sway the political climate. However, I do not think it extends to being able to impact which side the constituents stands on but rather the amount of people who take politics seriously and vote. They, as well as any other American, have the right to have this power as they are simply stating their views and opinions. They could even be compared to when a lobbyist tries to convince a Congressmen a certain direction. When it comes to whether or not pop culture figures should voice their political opinions, it is up to the person. Some influencers seem to prefer to keep their opinions to themselves however, others are more passionate about politics and in such cases they can use their platform to speak. As mentioned previously, I am unsure on how big of an impact social media makes on the ideologies of voters, but I do believe their is a relatively significant impact on the amount of voters, especially young voters, that appear during elections.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that social media influencers and celebrities have the power to sway the political climate. They have the choice and right to voice their own opinions just as any other American citizen would, so yes I think that they should have and use this power to their advantage. While some celebrities has received backlash for their political views, I think that since they also have freedom of speech, they can use it as they desire. However I think it would be beneficial if they kept any opinion that could be deemed offensive out of the public eye for their own safety and success as a media influencer or celebrity. Political campaigns have been very media based recently so celebrities definitely have the power to campaign and help get people to the polls to vote.
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