Before you head to the polls, start interacting with potential candidates online.
The first Democratic National Debate of the 2016 election year took place Tuesday. The debate, hosted on CNN, trended under the hastag #DemDebate. During the debate, as I streamed CNN through my little chromebook, I made sure to tune in to Twitter to see what my friends and fellow peers had to say. The beginning was slow, most likely because Donald Trump, as strange as he is, is a lot more entertaining on screen than say Jim Webb. However, I did get a chance to notice Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, both of whom I follow on Twitter, tweeting up a storm.
During each important question, both candidates, not unlike many candidates, tweeted about the topic at hand and many times they elaborated more eloquently what they were trying to say. I realized that in our current general society, young people have an extremely unique and special way to inform themselves.
In high school government class we all learn about what it means to be an uninformed voter. Yet, many Ohio University students with be participating in their first presidential election next year and many of them may feel they are uninformed voters. In a political climate where so many specific topics are talked about, it is important to utilize the media as well as the Internet and other digital resources to help you figure out what are your most important issues.
Is gun control a top priority for you or perhaps reproductive rights? Do you feel invested in a candidate with a detailed foreign policy plan or one who is pushing for extreme health care reform?
The point is, candidates now more than ever are accessible to you. Yes, it may be a bit simple-minded to say that a tweet to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders could immediately get a response, but it’s all worth a shot. Reaching out to candidates from all political parties is an important way to make your vote meaningful. Though we work on a two-party system, social media has made it possible to inform yourself of other parties and candidates beyond the red and blue.
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According to a Vox article, a comment made by Bernie Sanders caused dictionary searches of the word “socialism” to spike. Whether that is good or bad to you in your personal politics, it represents an important shift in voters. Young people no longer want to be told they are uninformed and extremely polarized.
Utilizing not only the good and bad propaganda that candidates hand out is important. Simply typing in a candidate's name and a policy issue could reveal their entire record on said policy issue. Interacting, searching and reading about candidates is a now important step in our elections. It would be a shame to waste the technology present when it could help you make an informed decision.
Kenyetta Whitfield is a sophomore studying journalism. Do you think the Internet can create more informed voters? Tweet Kenyetta @Ken_Whitty or email her at kw162913@ohio.edu.
