To be honest, if not for social media, I probably wouldn’t care about politics like that. In the past, politics used to feel like something only older people talked about, you’d only hear it on the news or read about it in the newspapers. But now, everything is right on your phone. One tweet, and it spreads like wildfire.
I remember those years when my father was involved in politics, we only heard about it whenever his friends were around and discussing it, we always ignored the conversation because we did not know much about it which made politics seem so boring to me but my father was always enjoyed and pay attention to the 9 pm news on NTA channel every day but now social media has changed politics completely. Both the politicians and the voters now use it in different ways. Some use it properly, others just use it to confuse. For me, I’ve seen both the good and the bad sides.
Let me start with the politicians
Nowadays, politicians don’t wait for rallies or press conferences. With one short video or a single photo on Instagram, their message has gone far. Some even have Twitter handlers who know how to create drama or insult their opponents. Sometimes you wonder if the person is a real politician or just trying to entertain people.
During the last elections, I saw candidates that people didn’t even know about before and suddenly became popular because of how they appeared online. If they posted something, blogs would pick it up, people would repost, and just like that, someone who didn’t even have a campaign poster in your area would become a household name.
But I won’t lie, there’s a lot of fake news too. These same politicians pay people to tweet lies, attack opponents, and confuse voters. If you’re not careful, you’ll believe things that aren’t even true. I remember one time I saw a video of a politician sharing food items. Later, I found out that the video was from years ago, but people were still sharing it like it just happened.
Now let’s talk about us the voters.
We’ve also been using social media to express ourselves. If a governor doesn’t pay workers, you’ll see people already calling him out online. That kind of exposure is good. I remember during the End SARS protest it showed how much power we have. People didn’t wait for TV stations, updates were coming straight from people’s phones. That protest shook this country, and it was mostly because of social media.
But the way people argue about politics online these days is not healthy. One person will say they support a certain candidate, and immediately others will start insulting them. Friends block each other, strangers curse each other out, and people report accounts simply because of different political opinions. Politics shouldn’t divide us this way. It’s gotten to the point where I’m even scared to share my thoughts online because I don’t want trouble.
Another problem is that some people talk a lot online, but when it’s time to act in real life, they disappear. They tweet every day like they are experts, but ask them if they voted, and they’ll say, “I didn’t have time,” or “The queue was too long.” If elections were only held on Twitter, some people would be presidents by now. But in real life, they don’t take action which is one of the downsides. Social media gives people boldness that doesn’t always reflect in real life. It’s easier to talk, argue, and drag people than to go out and vote, attend meetings, or hold a politician accountable in person.
In my opinion, I think social media has done more good than harm, but it’s still a mixed bag. It has opened our eyes. It has made more young people aware of what’s going on. It has given people the courage to speak up and demand better. But at the same time, it has made politics feel like a game, like something people do for attention or entertainment.
If there’s one thing I could change, it would be how we handle political conversations online. I wish people would do more research before they post. I wish we could learn to argue without insulting each other. I also wish more people would match their energy online with real action offline. Retweets and likes don’t count as votes.
This is my response to this episode of hivelearners community prompt of #hl-w162e01 which the topic is tagged SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICS
