Politicians Use of Social Media

1. The principle claim I will be making in Paper 3 will depend largely on the age of the candidate and who their intended audience is. For example, it has been argued that older voters are much more surprised to see politicians using social media, whereas younger voters consider it commonplace. In regards to the politician, I think younger candidates may have different implications for using social media. For example, Queen Elizabeth and John McCain may be using social media to appear younger and show that they’re “keeping up with the times,” but Barack Obama is simply utilizing the media as a functional way to communicate his issues with his publics. As far as criteria, I will be citing several articles and/or blog posts relating to differing views on the topic. After reading the argument, I want readers to view politicians on social media in a case-by-case basis, depending on the age and issues of the candidate.

2. The argument for my paper will appear in a well-circulated magazine editorial, such as TIME or Newsweek.

3. The audience for TIME or Newsweek is generally middle-class, well-educated Americans who are interested in politics and current events, thus moderately to very well-informed readers. They are probably over the age of 25, therefore may be slightly less familiar with social media than younger readers. Both magazines are fairly objective, so the audience probably doesn’t lean toward one set of beliefs either way.

4. In order to appear credible, I will cite other credible opinions concerning my topic as well as my own analysis of how politicians have used social media in the last decade. I will also provide counter points to my argument to reinforce the objectivity of the piece while still expressing my argument. I’m not sure how humor or amusement will play a role in my piece, but traditionally short, sarcastic sentences or persuasive diction can be used to keep the audience amused.

5. The last article I posted pertaining to my paper supported my argument that age plays a major role in how political social media is perceived. The age of the politician and their desired audience changes the way the content is perceived tremendously, and I strongly agree with that statement.

6. This sort of evidence is appropriate to the venue where I want my argument to appear because my audience already reads magazine editorials and keeps up with current events. Therefore, citing other credible sources and providing concrete evidence of how social media is used and is either advantageous or disadvantageous to politicians will be strong evidence in support of my argument for this particular audience.

7. I want to discuss three main political figures and how they use social media, so I plan on chunking my paper into discussion of each figure, then compare and contrast how each figure is successful or unsuccessful.

8. As I said before, I want to acknowledge other arguments by including them in my discussion, yet provide stronger examples and evidence to support my claim.