Bound Volume Number
Volume V
Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-2016
Capstone Advisor
David Molta
Capstone Major
Public Administration
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Keywords
influencing legislation, the effectiveness of social media
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Abstract
The goal of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of social media and the role that it plays when it comes to influencing legislation. The methodology was two-fold, a historical comparison with the role of social media being compared to the roles of media/information technology in the past, and a quantitative analysis of fiscal spending and social media presence. Possible problems could include a lack of quantitative data when it comes to social media, and a failure to establish enough of a connection between social media and technologies of the past. However, through these avenues the argument was advanced that social media is not unique in the way it is utilized by political groups. Also, I discovered/discussed that social media utilization comes in two shapes: social media as the sole platform (resulting in more social/cultural influence) and social media being utilized as an arm of a more traditional power (resulting in more political change.) In conclusion, political utilization of media technology is nothing new, and social media can be extremely effective in changing certain aspects of society, depending on how it is used. Given these assumptions it is clear that social media is an evolution of media, not a revolution in media.
Recommended Citation
Van Den Bergh, Jesper, "Media Technology: An Evolving Political Machine" (2016). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 967.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/967
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
