As I watched the presidential debate last week, I found myself mindlessly scrolling through social media during commercials. We’re all used to them by now; they’re almost as inevitable as the “Everybody Rides” commercial past 1 a.m.: political statuses and tweets. Some live to write them, while others can hardly stomach them.
But I found, amid my news feed of OU memes and barely clad “modeling” photos, that there were more people criticizing political statuses than making them. An overwhelming number of people bashed those who voiced their political stance via media as “attention-seeking,” “pointless,” “annoying,” and “uneducated.”
And though I’m sure we’ve all read our fair share of uneducated arguments, who’s to say they’re pointless? Annoying maybe, but pointless? I disagree.
Social media is a place where every other girl thinks she’s a model and every other guy thinks he’s a sports analyst. And although your opinion on the Browns vs. Bengals game (Go Browns!) won’t change the outcome, your opinion on our next president can.
I’m not saying everyone abuses social media, but it’s nice to see our generation voicing its opinions, whether it happens to be the same as yours or not. Getting involved in this year’s election could mean tweeting, protesting, and even voting. However big or small your involvement may be, it’s important.
Last presidential election, the Athens Board of Elections had more than 9,000 people vote absentee, much more compared to this year’s number of a little more than 5,000. And since much of the absentee voters are students, they hope that number continues to grow within the coming weeks.
“Our goal would be to beat the 9,000 mark this year; we don’t care how they vote, we just want them to vote,” said Debbie Quivey, director of the Board of Elections.
According to the Campus Vote Project, “Well over a quarter of college students reported in 2010 that they did not register to vote because they did not know how to register or they missed the deadline.”
That information, compiled by the Center of Information and Research on Civic Learning Engagement, also found that “In 2010, less than 13 percent of college students said the reason they didn’t vote was they were not interested.”
Truth is, we’ve come a long way. More students are getting involved, reading up on issues, tuning in for debates, and voicing their opinions. However, we still have a long way to go.
Luckily, it’s not too late for some. If you have been registered, but did not update your voter information, you can still vote provisionally in the office of the Board of Elections at 15 S. Court St. Provisional voters can also vote in Baker University Center.
“Oct. 23 is the deadline for us to have all info updated for the secretary of state,” Quivey said.
As the super innovative, awesome company who made my iPhone once told me, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
So kudos to you, opinionated, passionate, social-media politicians who breathe social change with every update. I commend you.
Casey Compernolle is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University and a columnist for The Post. Do you “like” political Facebook posts? Email her at cc150709@ohiou.edu.
