Social media may play a key role in the future of voting

By Mrinalini Keskar, ‘22

With the ability to register to vote through social media, and voting apps that allow Americans to see the voting history of their friends and encourage them to vote, this year's presidential election has taken a modern approach.

This election already looks different from most, being in the midst of a global pandemic. Some candidates have held rallies, but the pandemic has caused turnout to be low.

Candidates need to find a new way to connect and recruit votes. Enter social media. Candidates can directly communicate with their audiences, and ask their audience to reach out to more friends to support them.

However, the shift to campaigning on social media is recent, which leads to most social media use to be ineffective. Social Studies teacher Patrick Walsh, who is currently teaching an Upper School elective at Catlin Gabel School (CGS) about the presidential election, said that before this shift “it was just unpresidential to be on social media.”

President Donald Trump’s use of Twitter has been a large contributor to the shift. Michael D. Shear, White House Correspondent for the New York Times, noted that “Twitter was a political tool that had helped get [Trump] elected. In the years since, he has fully integrated Twitter into the very fabric of his administration, reshaping the nature of the presidency and presidential power.”

Social media campaigning is especially important for bringing in young voters. In the past, the Federal Higher Education Effort required that colleges “make a good faith effort” to distribute voting registration and information to students.

“These hubs of youth politics, like university campuses, are shut down,” said Walsh.

Youth voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election was stagnant from years before and even decreased in some states.

Though the pandemic has obviously affected this years’ election, social media may have even more of an impact in future elections, as its use becomes more normalized.