No matter where we are from, we all are part of a political community. As part of the political community, I am going to do a research project on social media. My claim is that social media has and will continue to have a profound impact on how we understand, interpret, and participate in politics.
My preliminary investigation into my topic has uncovered the following three resources from which I will begin my research:
Scola, Nancy. “Sean Parker unveils social network for politics.” Politico. politico.com, 17 Jun. 2015. Web. 13 Jul. 2015. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/brigade-politics-social-network-sean-parker-119108.html
Nancy Scola is a writer for the political news company Politico. She focuses on the intersection of technology, politics, and public policy. In the article, Scola writes about Sean Parker’s new social media venture. As one of the founder to the most successful social network to date, namely Facebook; Sean Parker knows social media. This article explains his new venture to combine social media and politics through the new social media platform “Brigade” This article will be helpful for research in providing information how social media is actually being used in politics and whether it is simply a fad or something more permanent. To be sure, if Parker is as successful with “Brigade” as Facebook has been, politics will never be the same.
Shirky, Clay. “The Political Power of Social Media.” Foreign Affairs. foreignaffairs.org, Jan/Feb 2011. Web. 13 Jul. 2015. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/articles/2010-12-20/political-power-social-media
Clay Shirky is a writer and professor at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, who specializes in the social and economic effects of social media. In this article Professor Shirky introduces the role of social media in almost all of the world’s most recent and dramatic political events. In explaining this phenomenon, Professor Shirky also explains, how easy using social media can be for activists as well as varied government responses to its use from embracing it, as the U.S. government has tried to do; to opposing at as the Chinese government has largely succeeded in doing. This article will be helpful is demonstrating the effect of social media on global politics.
Talbot, David. “How Obama Really Did it.” MIT Technology Review. Technologyreview.com, 19 Aug. 2008. Web 13 Jul. 2015, http://www.technologyreview.com/featurestory.410644/how-obama-really-did-it/
The 2008 Obama campaign for the White House is widely considered the first ever social media presidential campaign. In this article David Talbot, who is MIT Technology Review’s chief correspondent, provides an in-depth analysis of how social media was incorporated into the campaign and the results that it produced. This article will be useful in showing social media and politics in action. Based on the influence that the campaign’s use of social media had in subsequent elections, it provides an insightful look of the future of politics and social media.
Works Cited
Scola, Nancy. “Sean Parker unveils social network for politics.” Politico. politico.com, 17 Jun. 2015. Web. 13 Jul. 2015. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/brigade-politics-social-network-sean-parker-119108.html
Shirky, Clay. “The Political Power of Social Media.” Foreign Affairs. foreignaffairs.org, Jan/Feb 2011. Web. 13 Jul. 2015. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/articles/2010-12-20/political-power-social-media
Talbot, David. “How Obama Really Did it.” MIT Technology Review. Technologyreview.com, 19 Aug. 2008. Web 13 Jul. 2015, http://www.technologyreview.com/featurestory.410644/how-obama-really-did-it/
