Term Paper about 'Political Agenda on Social Media'

 

                                               Acknowledgement

            I would like to express my sincere gratefulness to Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, for making this Term paper. I am equally thankful to Head of Department Prof. P. Kharel, and Rishikesh Dahal, whose true guidance and timely instruction made me carry out the term paper related to topic of “Political Agenda On Social Media " more effectively and thus I have been able to bring out the report to this from. I am thankful to all the Prof. and teachers of the Department as well as my college mates for their continuous support and invaluable co-operation throughout the studies. And again thanks to Ass. Prof. Rishikesh Dahal

                                      
                                                                                 Narayan Prasad Adhikari
                                                                                    2072/ 4 /25

   POLITICAL AGENDA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

                                                                 

BACKGROUND

In my own definition social media is modem media that deals with new information technology. It is a very broad term and no universal definition among scholars and researchers exists. A commonly accepted definition of social media seems to be difficult particularly due to the existence of other concepts that came along with social media, i.e. Web 2.0 or User Generated Content. Being closely related but not exactly synonymous a distinction between all these new concepts and terms often seems to be difficult, to the extent of being used interchangeably (Morgado et.al 2011).

Social Networking sites have become an integral part of today’s society and have changed the way people communicate with one another. In this paper, I discuss the relationship between Social media and political engagement.

 

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 

Every study should have objectives. Without objects that study could not work properly so that I had also mentioned my studies objectives, these are follows.

1.  To find out the effects of social media in political agenda sitting

2.  To Find out the negative and positive positive and negative effects of using                social media in political sector

3.  Role of Social media to aware people about political activities.

 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

TO find out the real result I had taken some information from some sights and collected through books, paper, and some news which was published in government media. Visited social websites. The study attempts to find out the contribution of social media in political sector.

 

Key findings about social media users and political activities

 The use of social media is becoming a feature of political and civic engagement for many Americans. Some 60% of American adults use either social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter and a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that 66% of those social media users—or 39% of all American adults—have done at least one of eight civic or political activities with social media.

38% of those who use social networking sites (SNS) or Twitter use those social media to “like” or promote material related to politics or social issues that others have posted. Liberal Democrats who use social media are particularly likely to use the ‘like’ button—52% of them have done so and 42% of conservative Republicans have also done so.35% of social media users have used the tools to encourage people to vote. Democrats who are social media users are more likely to have used social media to encourage voting—42% have done that compared with 36% of Republican social-media users and 31% of independents.34% of social media users have used the tools to post their own thoughts or comments on political and social issues. Liberal Democrats who use social media (42%) and conservative Republicans (41%) are especially likely to use social media this way.33% of social media users have used the tools to repost content related to political or social issues that was originally posted by someone else.  Republican social media users are more likely to do this on social media—39% have used social media to repost content, compared with 34% of social media using Democrats and 31% of independents.31% of social media users have used the tools to encourage other people to take action on a political or social issue that is important to them. Some 36% of social-media-using Democrats have done this as have 34% of Republicans. This compares to 29% of independents who are social media users.

28% of social media users have used the tools to post links to political stories or articles for others to read. The social media users who are liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans are the most likely to have used social media this way (39% and 34% respectively).21% of those who use SNS or Twitter belong to a group on a social networking site that is involved in political or social issues, or that is working to advance a cause. There are no major differences by ideology or partisanship when it comes to using social media this way.

20% of social media users have used the tools to follow elected officials and candidates for office.  Some 32% of the conservative Republicans who use social media follow officials on social media and 27% of liberal Democrats who use social media do so. (American research)

 

IN THE CASE OF NEPAL

In the case of Nepal many political agenda is had been populated due to the social media.  Govinda kc agenda, Anna hajari agenda also became popular due to the social media. Our leader dr, Baburam Bhatarai also using social media with actively posted all information through social media so he became populated in social media and get big hits of like in his pages also.  When after the earthquake about one month later Dr. Bhattrai went to Barpak area and he posted information on own facebook page then nepali journalist make news according his status. Such type of practice also helps to set the agenda. Without the physical meeting, many leader getting following benefit through using social media. Chari parkaran also the political related events, through social media lots of user were posted their own thinking about these events. Not only had that Agriculture minister Parajuli also become looser though social media.  Agriculture minister Hari Prasad Parajuli involves in Dhan day in Godawari, he did sexual harassment or unethical activities with woman then the social media immediate disseminate news through online. Then creates negative and positive debate about Hari's scandal .  Lots of users posted negative comment about his shameless activities. So that social media are become very popular tool for the political agenda setting. Dr. Baburam  Bhattarai also fames user of social media .He used to post many information which are related to political aspects.

 

By social media users can get following benefits, so that politician used social media.

1: Direct Contact with Voters

Social media tools including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube allow politicians to speak directly to voters without spending a dime. Using those social media allows politicians to circumvent the traditional method of reaching voters through paid advertising or earned media.

2. without Advertising

It has become fairly common for political campaigns to produce commercials and publish them for free on YouTube instead of, or in addition to, paying for time on television or the radio. Often times, journalists covering campaigns will write about those YouTube ads, essentially broadcasting their message to a wider audience at no cost to the politicians.

3.  Organization

Twitter and Facebook have become instrumental in organizing campaigns. They allow like-minded voters and activists to easily share news and information such as campaign events with each other. That's what the "Share" function on Facebook and "retweet" feature of Twitter are for.

4.  Message Customization

Political campaigns can tap into a wealth of information or analytics about the people who are following them on social media, and customize their messages based on selected demographics. In other words, a campaign may find one message appropriate for voters under 30 years old will not be as effective with over 60 years old.

5.  Fundraising        

Some campaigns have used so-called money bombs to raise large amounts of cash in short period of time. Money bombs are typically 24-hour periods in which candidates press their supporters to donate money. They use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to get the word out, and often tie these money bombs to specific controversies that emerge during campaigns.

6.  Controversy

Direct access to voters also has its down sides. Handlers and public-relations professionals often manage a candidate’s image, and for good reason: Allowing a politician to send out unfiltered tweets or Facebook posts has landed many a candidate in hot water or in embarrassing situations. See Anthony Weiner.

 7.  Feedback

Asking for feedback from voters or constituents can be a good thing. And it can be a very bad thing, depending on how politicians respond. Many campaigns hire staffers to monitor their social media channels for negative response and scrub anything unflattering. But such a bunker-like mentality can make a campaign appear defensive and closed off from the public. Well run modern day campaigns will engage the public regardless of whether their feedback is negative or positive.

 8.  Weighing Public Opinion

The value of social media is in its immediacy. Politicians and campaign do absolutely nothing without first knowing how their policy statements or moves will play among the electorate, and Twitter and Facebook both allow them to instantaneously gauge how the public is responding to an issue or controversy. Politicians can then adjust their campaigns accordingly, in real time, without the use of high-priced consultants or expensive polling.

9.  The Power of Many

Social media tools have allowed Americans to easily join together to petition the government and their elected officials, leveraging their numbers against the influence of powerful lobbyists and monies special interests. Make no mistake, lobbyists and special interest still have the upper hand, but the day will come when the power of social media allows like-minded citizens to join together in ways that will be just as powerful.

 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs and Websites were the social networking site frequently used by individual/group of political leaders. This study aimed to assess the effects of social media political sector. Results showed that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs and Websites were the social networking site frequently used by individual or group to become much more popular than others.SO that social media is being a tools of political sector .TO became a popular leaders post the necessary information, news to public through social media.so that most of the important document are in social media like twitter, Facebook, YouTube, flicker and so on. Not only that they have also their own websites.

 

 REFERENCES

1. Artwick, C. G. (2005). Reporting and Producing for Digital Media. New Dejhi: Surjeet Publication.

2. Dahl, R. A. and Bruce, S. (2003). Modern Political Analysis. Sixth Edition. Delhi: Pearson education.

3. Kharel, P. (20012). Media for Participatory Democracy. Kathmandu: Kamala Kharel.

 4. Kharel, P. (2013). Dimension of Communication. Kathmandu: NAMe

5. Kharel, P. (2010). Political Communication: Media, Message and Meaning. Kathmandu: Sangam Institute.