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	=Overview=		=Overview=
	In the past decade, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have become critical tools enabling social and political communication on a global scale among broad networks of people. Information on a wide variety of topics is exchanged at unprecedented volumes on these platforms, giving users an open and domain-agnostic communication venue and the benefits and challenges that go along with that.		In the past decade, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have become critical tools enabling social and political communication on a global scale among broad networks of people. Information on a wide variety of topics is exchanged at unprecedented volumes on these platforms, giving users an open and domain-agnostic communication venue and the benefits and challenges that go along with that.
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	For individuals, these platforms can be used to advance a variety of agendas with only a minimal set of features, such as following, liking, and sharing. For politicians and political parties, social media is used extensively to campaign on referendums, engage in debates, and provide information on national elections. In political science,social media analysis is now key to understanding the nature of political engagement during campaigns.		For individuals, these platforms can be used to advance a variety of agendas with only a minimal set of features, such as following, liking, and sharing. For politicians and political parties, social media is used extensively to campaign on referendums, engage in debates, and provide information on national elections. In political science,social media analysis is now key to understanding the nature of political engagement during campaigns.
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	=Strengths and Weaknesses=		=Strengths and Weaknesses=
-	A very strong element of this article is it’s critical approach towards the ability to advance one’s own personal agenda through the use of social media. Social media access enables everyone to like, share, or follow whatever it is they'd like. This provides optimum freedom throughout the public sphere, that can often be manipulated.	+	A very strong element of this article is it’s critical approach towards the ability to advance one’s own personal agenda through the use of social media. Social media access enables everyone to like, share, or follow whatever it is they'd like. This provides optimum freedom throughout the public sphere, that can often be manipulated. This article shows the direct affects that social media has on the political realm within the public sphere. With that being said it is important to think critically about what users post, like as well as who they follow because this data can be exploited through political interest.
	=Assessment=		=Assessment=
		+	The arguments made in this article are valid, and through these arguments the reader can gain a stronger understanding towards not only the freedom users have to choose the content they want to see, but the ability political groups have in order to access this data. In other words, this article exploits social media's role in democracy as politicians now have the ability to conduct cultural studies through social media platforms like Facebook privately in order to address audiences based off their interests, basically telling them what they want to hear in order to gain their support.
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	---[[User:Jc13vi|Jc13vi]] 21:45, 21 March 2019 (EDT)		---[[User:Jc13vi|Jc13vi]] 21:45, 21 March 2019 (EDT)

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Revision as of 12:46, 22 March 2019

Article Title: From Brexit to Trump: Social Media's Role in Democracy

Find article online: http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/00189162/v51i0001/18_fbttsmrid.xml

doi: 10.1109/MC.2018.1151005

Contents 1 Context 2 Overview 3 Strengths and Weaknesses 4 Assessment

Context

The article argues that through analysis of social media data we can better understand citizens’ engagement, opinions and political preferences. The ability to share, access, and connect facts and opinions among like-minded (and not so) citizens has encouraged wholesale political adoption of platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Yet our ability to understand the impact that social networks have had on the democratic process is currently very limited. The authors analyze the role social media played in the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit referendum.

Overview

In the past decade, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have become critical tools enabling social and political communication on a global scale among broad networks of people. Information on a wide variety of topics is exchanged at unprecedented volumes on these platforms, giving users an open and domain-agnostic communication venue and the benefits and challenges that go along with that. For individuals, these platforms can be used to advance a variety of agendas with only a minimal set of features, such as following, liking, and sharing. For politicians and political parties, social media is used extensively to campaign on referendums, engage in debates, and provide information on national elections. In political science,social media analysis is now key to understanding the nature of political engagement during campaigns.

Strengths and Weaknesses

A very strong element of this article is it’s critical approach towards the ability to advance one’s own personal agenda through the use of social media. Social media access enables everyone to like, share, or follow whatever it is they'd like. This provides optimum freedom throughout the public sphere, that can often be manipulated. This article shows the direct affects that social media has on the political realm within the public sphere. With that being said it is important to think critically about what users post, like as well as who they follow because this data can be exploited through political interest.

Assessment

The arguments made in this article are valid, and through these arguments the reader can gain a stronger understanding towards not only the freedom users have to choose the content they want to see, but the ability political groups have in order to access this data. In other words, this article exploits social media's role in democracy as politicians now have the ability to conduct cultural studies through social media platforms like Facebook privately in order to address audiences based off their interests, basically telling them what they want to hear in order to gain their support.

---Jc13vi 21:45, 21 March 2019 (EDT)