Technology and Politics
Mackenzie Berliner-Glasser
12 November, 2012
Mr. Rodriguez
Essay 2.2
Word Count: 1470
Politically Divided In this modern day and age, technology has become a major influence in our life. In the past decade, we have had a significant amount of technological advances in society that revolves around all aspects of society. Specifically, technology has allowed for ways for individuals to advertise information and express their personal opinions. With advances like cable television, having dozens of different news outlets, and another advance, the Internet, it has become very easy to broadcast bias, stereotypes, and personal opinion internationally. Are these social outlets necessarily accurate? Do these Internet sites affect the political opinions of our nations youth? The Internet creates a negative influence on the political lives of young voters because it is detrimental to the development of young informed voters. The Internet is a vast, open network where users create and share media such as videos and pictures, information, personal opinions, and ideas publically for others to speculate on. Examples of these sites are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, and various blogging pages where online media can be accessed 24/7. Statistically, within the age group of 18-24 around 98% of these young adults are already using social media. Also, there is an average of 70 billion new pieces of content shared on Facebook each month and an incredible 2.9 billion hours spent watching videos uploaded to YouTube. In the United States alone, the average amount of time spent on the Internet is 7.6 hours per month (Social Networking Statistics). Social media outlets and common search engines are, for the most part, being used by the youth of the world and it has unlimited amounts of information that they can access. Many of these sites, however, have tainted information, and quickly turn fact into personal opinion. Because these sites are accessible by anyone, the
12 November, 2012
Mr. Rodriguez
Essay 2.2
Word Count: 1470
Politically Divided In this modern day and age, technology has become a major influence in our life. In the past decade, we have had a significant amount of technological advances in society that revolves around all aspects of society. Specifically, technology has allowed for ways for individuals to advertise information and express their personal opinions. With advances like cable television, having dozens of different news outlets, and another advance, the Internet, it has become very easy to broadcast bias, stereotypes, and personal opinion internationally. Are these social outlets necessarily accurate? Do these Internet sites affect the political opinions of our nations youth? The Internet creates a negative influence on the political lives of young voters because it is detrimental to the development of young informed voters. The Internet is a vast, open network where users create and share media such as videos and pictures, information, personal opinions, and ideas publically for others to speculate on. Examples of these sites are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, and various blogging pages where online media can be accessed 24/7. Statistically, within the age group of 18-24 around 98% of these young adults are already using social media. Also, there is an average of 70 billion new pieces of content shared on Facebook each month and an incredible 2.9 billion hours spent watching videos uploaded to YouTube. In the United States alone, the average amount of time spent on the Internet is 7.6 hours per month (Social Networking Statistics). Social media outlets and common search engines are, for the most part, being used by the youth of the world and it has unlimited amounts of information that they can access. Many of these sites, however, have tainted information, and quickly turn fact into personal opinion. Because these sites are accessible by anyone, the
Cited: Graff Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. Print. Pariser, Eli, Siva Vaidhyanathan, Evgeny Morozov, and Jacob Weisberg. "Is The Internet Closing Our Minds Politically?" Interview. Audio blog post. N.p., 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012 "President Clinton Explains Mitt Romney 's $5 Trillion Tax Cut." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB7I0vpwT7M>. "Social Networking Statistics." Statistic Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/>.