Elections should involve the entire country, not just be a show of candidates reciting their goals. The knowledge of the public is essential to any candidate, as it’s the people who elect them. Social media is crucial in keeping the public informed about elections and provides an outlet to share opinions.
Both the U.S. and Ghana are having presidential elections this year. Although they are thousands of miles apart, both elections are open to all adult citizens and are fairly reputable. In America, it’s difficult to escape the election: T.Vs broadcast debates and candidate ads, radios discuss important issues, and election posters plaster public billboards. Youtube plays a crucial role for busy Americans who may miss broadcasted debates. Computers and internet are ubiquitous in America, so Youtube is an easily accessible resource for most Americans. The “Election Hub” compiles official debates, news discussions, international news sources, and serious (and not so serious) public opinions.
The YouTube Election Hub: http://www.youtube.com/user/politics
Ghana also uses Youtube to inform their public about their election through “Ghana Decides Tag”. Here are the instructions from Ghana Decide’s website:
"How to Participate
1. Choose five (5) Ghana Decides Tag and two trivia questions (see below).
2. Record a video answering the questions and upload to YouTube using “Ghana Decides” and “Ghana Decides Tag” as part of your YouTube tags during the upload.
3. Share the link to your GhD Tag video using #GhanaDecides on Twitter and Google Plus. Also post your link on the Ghana Decides Facebook page.
4. Tag 3-5 friends to also participate in the tag. Download the Ghana Decides Tag How-to Document and share."
The questions include basics such as experiences voting, to the more insightful about what it means to be Ghanaian. Trivia questions ask about parties and past elections.
The Ghana Election Tag Explanation Page: http://ghanadecides.com/about/projects/ghana-decides-tag/
Ghana is relying on the public to spread awareness and discussion through multiple forms of social media, while America’s candidates rely the most on their own debates and views broadcasted through general media.
In both elections, cooperation is key. In order to create educated voters, candidates should aim to reach out to the public through as many mediums as possible. In the age of technology, TV, radio, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google are hubs of information sharing in America all are used to reach out to the wide variety of voters. Official debates can appeal to everyone, but a slightly-humorous explanation by Jon Leno can draw in younger voters who only have a few minutes to spare.
Sharing opinions on websites such as Facebook and Twitter is normal to Americans, but innovative and exciting to Ghanaians. The “Ghana Decides Tag” is starting a trend of easier and more meaningful social networking that appeals to the younger generation of voters. Cooperation through “tagging” others to share their opinions encourages a widespread knowledge of their election.
Elections should be a time for countries to get together and discuss important issues. A change or reelection of a leader should reflect the people’s wants for a better country.
You make a very interesting point in that social media's scope is incredibly large and is expanding to nations across the globe. But I wonder if this will prove to be negative, though not all the time. The reason I say this is that Youtube, while having many education videos about the US Presidential Election, has many false facts about the election. The viewer still needs to discern fact from fiction and identify bias, which I believe we as a country have unfortunately been failing to do. Could this way of spreading information cause negative repercussions in addition to positive ones? Will this "Ghana Decides Tag" help or hurt Ghana? Maybe time will tell.
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