Title: How Social Media Affects Politics |
Headings: How Social Media Affects Politics
How Social Media Affects Politics
News Around the Clock
The Impact of Polls
Direct Interaction With Politicians
Demographics and Targeting
Rumors, Fake News and Conspiracies
The Power of Confirmation Bias
Social Media and the Future of Politics

Content: It’s natural for people to surround themselves with others of like mind. This is true both online and offline. On social media sites, this can create the illusion that “everybody” thinks the same way. If you have a few hundred friends on Facebook, for example, and 90 percent of them agree on most political issues, the information you get will be filtered through this bias. People will post links to stories that confirm your existing bias. They’ll repeat opinions you already hold. For this reason, social media may reinforce our opinions and make it more difficult to entertain alternative points of view. In politics, it can help to make people more opinionated and less tolerant of others. On the other hand, if you make an effort to connect with an assortment of people with diverse viewpoints, you can overcome confirmation bias and use social media to make you more open-minded. Social Media and the Future of Politics
Because social media is relatively new, we’re just starting to see its impact on society.