Feel the Bern

     Last week our assignment was to describe our relationship with media, which for myself and many of my classmates seemed to be relatively strong. As i was reading the blogs, i noticed a few apps mentioned several times, one being twitter. I began to watch what i was seeing as i scrolled through the app once every few hours. I noticed several patterns, i saw the same posts over and over. As i make my way down the never ending twitter timeline at this moment i see music videos, pictures of puppies with hearts above their heads, small feuds between students, hippos eating watermelon, but most of all, politics.
     The US presidential election has seemed to make its way on to all forms of social media from instagram, to snapchat, and to twitter. I, myself, support Bernie Sanders. I grow up in a home where my family has strong opinions about politics. My dad informs me and watches the debates with me. I also see many pictures and posts that lead me to believe Bernie is the best option for our president. But sometimes I wonder, is social media tricking me? Is it creating a bias opinion in which i block out every opinion from the other candidates? All over twitter i see posts supporting Bernie, creating a peaceful, kind image for him such as: Love Always Trumps Hate (click to open the link). I also see pictures titled "Bernie or Hillary?" These images are funny, but as each one is made it is making me think Bernie is a 'cooler' person than Hillary, which i believe is the main goal. Although these posts have nothing to do with the main issues discussed during the election, they are creating a widespread positive image for Bernie. I do believe social media has caused a large group of people to select a candidate they support based off of thirty second video or a 140 character post.

     On the other hand, the republican side of the presidential election has a completely different image across social media. My family and I do not support Trump, and i have have come to believe that 95% of Twitter users do not either. All across Twitter i see videos like "Outside the Donald Trump Rally". I saw a string of videos showing violent incidents at Trump rallies. This showed me the impact social media can really have on many people. As i was watching, i would close one eye and cringe, as i couldn't believe this was happening in our world today. The next day i came to school and showed my friends these videos, they had the same reaction. I decided to go through social media and look for positive posts about Trump. The only source of actual, clear posts about Trump were on his twitter account. While searching for posts about Trump i found several pictures insulting his physical appearance. I found the same types of images being created for Cruz. He is often referred to as the "Zodiac Killer" or the character from Halloween-town. These images being created for Cruz have nothing to do with the actual election, but have several people associating him with something negative. Social media has created extremely negative views for both Cruz and Trump throughout the election.
     Social media has had a stronger impact on most people over the last few years. During the last two elections, I was 8 and 12. I wouldn't have noticed what impact the presidential election was having across apps such as instagram and twitter. I do believe that during this election, as most adults have said, social media has played a role like never before. Images and videos are being posted constantly that have created images for each candidate. Bernie Sanders has seemed to be the most popular, as he is viewed positively in the "Bernie vs Hillary" posts, and the endless pictures of him helping out the community around him. The most negative posts are aimed towards Trump and Cruz, they are being looked at almost like monsters. Although most people viewing these posts are not able to vote, there is a group that can vote that sees these posts everyday. Social media, everyday, shows hundreds of thousands of people why or why not they should support a specific candidate. Although this could be positive, it can also be negative. Many people across the United States could be deciding who they are going to vote for based on one thirty second video.