Social Media


    Through the election season, our social media accounts are flooded with campaigning information. New accounts are being created left and right for these potential candidates so that they can voice their campaigns to the world. In some cases, you will see that people may solely vote on the fact that they saw a certain candidate's campaign in a large number of places and they seemed trustworthy while not taking the time to look into factional reasoning on who they decide to give their votes to.  This is where social media comes into play and is very convenient for potential candidates. In this day and time, social media is the most effective way to reach people with mass amounts of information. The more you can get your name out on social media and trend on different sights, the more success you could potentially be setting yourself up for. 

    Being in the running for an election is one thing, but being successful in the election is another. There are a lot of details that will need to be considered. Growing your social media following can be something that you do a couple of years in advance before you decide to run in any election. Politicians can grow their following and reach their target group through Twitter, Tik Tok, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram just to name some of the popular social media platforms. These are all great ways to communicate and stay connected with different users. These platforms can be used to respond to questions that people may have, to post blogs, and of course to promote themselves. TikTok influencer, Sam Shlafstein, says "It's a social media election and Tik Tok is playing a huge part."

    In the 2022 election, two candidates that have had a large TikTok presence are Mehmet OZ and John Fetterman who competed against each other for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Mehmet Oz also known as Dr. Oz to most people, is an American-Turksish television presenter, politician, author, professor emeritus, and retired cardiothoracic surgeon. John Fetterman is an American Politician who served as the mayor of Braddock from 2006 to 2019. Mehmet OZ is representing the Republican party and John Fetterman is representing the Democratic Party. Oz has been posting on his TikTok account since February 2021 but started campaigning in his account around December 2021. Fetterman has only been active on his TikTok account since August 2022 when he started running in the election. They both are also very active on Twitter throughout the election. They have been active on their accounts for quite some time but have used them to their advantage during the duration of the election. The results of the election ended in John Fetterman leading with 2,747,601 votes and Mehmet Oz falling short with 2,484,096 votes. This has Fetterman with 51.2 percent of the votes and Oz with 46.3 percent votes. John Fetterman is now the new U.S. Senate of Pennsylvania. 


    These two candidates have used their social media accounts not only to post their campaigns but to also make digs at each other from time to time. John Fetterman seemed to enjoy posting funny skits about Oz which I can not lie are pretty funny. Fetterman using his account to turn people away from Oz in a funny way can be a successful tactic depending on who you are targeting to vote for you. I think in this situation it worked out better for Fetterman because the younger generation was able to vote and he seemed more relatable through his TikTok. In a way, I feel like voters were more likely to feed into the jokes because is it light-hearted and gave everyone a good laugh whereas Oz is more serious about his work. This is not to say that this is not a serious matter but again you need to recognize your target and who you are trying to connect to.

In polling places everywhere on November 8

    However, this doesn't stop Oz from taking the same action but not through TikTok but Twitter instead. From what I could find, Oz will retweet things posted of Fetterman by the Republican page and also factual information but never anything catty. 

    During election time, most people only see the praise and support that the politicians receive throughout the election, but it is not always sunshine and rainbows. It is not uncommon for politicians to receive threats during their running. People have their reasons for trying to scare people off I guess but you never really see it do much good. The Colorado Secretary of State was sent death threats through Instagram and Facebook saying, "Watch your back. I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP. I SEE YOU SLEEPING. BE AFRAID ... I hope you die" or  "Guess who is going to hang when all of the fraud is revealed? (*Hint ..look in the mirror*)" while all of this seems extremely scary, the reality of these random people actually knowing where you sleep is slim. Also, a deputy from the Philadelphia city commissioner got a message that said, "EVERYONE WITH A GUN IS GOING TO BE AT YOUR HOUSE- AMERICANS LOOK AT THE NAME- ANOTHER JEW CAUGHT UP IN THE UNITED STATES FRAUD." Again, scary but are you really going to convince everyone with a gun to show up to some guy's house?

    It is very evident that social media is a vital part of election season. New accounts are created by many new users in order to sway people's opinions left or right. For candidates, having a big social media presence is important so that you can reach are a greater number of people that you would be missing if you didn't have those accounts. Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman are both great examples of why having a social media presence is important. Both of these men also did a good job of staying up to date and using their accounts to their advantage. 

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