Social Networking and the Election
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-06/how-the-election-looks-on-the-internet
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57546101-93/an-election-day-instagram-is-worth-a-thousand-tweets/
Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become more prominent in campaigning for elections this past year. People use them more than ever to voice their opinions on candidates and how they will vote. The articles above show how more and more people have been urging their friends to vote through social media. Instagram photos of polling places and ballots have skyrocketed during Election Day. The Jared Keller’s article shows how 30 percent of voters were encouraged to vote through social media and 20 percent of voters have encouraged others to vote through networking sites. Also, tweets pertaining to presidential candidates and debates have risen. Twenty to thirty percent of people have announced who they are planning to vote for via a social networking site. This abundance of information from friends on the network can have drastic effects on how people vote.
The information passed along though sites such as Facebook and Twitter is very similar to the model of information cascades in class. There is a decision to be made (which candidate to vote for in the election) and each person can observe information from others who have made the decision already. You can’t see who your friends actually votes for, but you can infer this private information pretty accurately based on their updates, photos, or shared articles. Therefore, information can cascade through friends on your network. Social media makes information of the candidates pass through the network quickly. Updates on debates and candidate campaigning make it easier for voters to decide on Election Day.
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