By the time you read this article I will have just returned from my weekend trip to Dallas, Texas. And all I am hoping for at this point is that I don’t get flagged down again for another “random security check.”
On the subject of the United States, as the November presidential election nears for the U.S., and as social media becomes flooded with memes and videos—mostly of why citizens should not vote for Trump—this young-blood reporter is asking, “how is this going to impact the voting turnout in the U.S.?”
Rewinding back to Canada’s 2015 federal election, last year’s voter turnout was 68.5 per cent. The highest turnout since 1993.
This is quite significant considering that the previous 2011 election voter turnout is the third lowest in Canadian history.
So why the increase?
Social media has an influential outreach capable of unifying massive numbers.
The political world has not only recognized this, but is now utilizing this phenomenon.
Even if you aren’t someone that is generally interested in politics, chances are that someone in your newsfeed is. And that is how the first impression of influence always begins, by association.
This is an incredibly powerful device. As a voter of the last two federal elections, the accessibility of information through social media in 2015, compared to 2011, definitely made an impact as to how I educated myself about politics, thus leading to the choice I made when I casted my ballot.
With all the media coverage about Donald Trump—be it the symbolic American Eagle taking a nip at the politician, or Trump’s demagogic characteristic—I for one am desensitized to what he or his opponent Clinton truly stand for. Not that my vote matters, but I imagine that many Americans, whose votes do matter, feel the same way.
Which is why I think we have witnessed a viral spike and increase of involvement in politics.
People genuinely want their fellow voters to know what is what so that they can make an educated decision.
According to a quick search on Google, the voting turnout for the U.S. presidential election in 2012 was 57.5 per cent. I doubt it will be that low this year.
