Facebook and the 2012 Election

Cadence Neenan, Web Managing Editor • November 19, 2012

Graphic by Alex Greene and Ryder Chasin. Photo contributed by MCT Campus.

Every four years, Facebook begins to become a political battleground. As students begin to educate themselves on both sides of the election, arguments of opposing political views can become heated. And as the election results are announced, arguments can boil over.

However, political positions and candidates are not the only topics students are arguing about. Students are debating whether or not these social media mediums should even be used for political discussions.

Many students believe that avid political posters should not use Facebook. They believe that these websites are not the appropriate place for discussion of political beliefs.

“I think that it is inappropriate to debate politics through Facebook because it is designed for shorter comments, which just causes fights,” said Jacqueline Chappo ’15.

Chappo believes that the format of Facebook only allows for political fights, not meaningful discussions. Many students agree. Facebook was designed for short, quick, lighthearted comments on subjects that are less touchy than the election. What begins as easy banter quickly becomes mudslinging on occassions with as much tension as election night.

Jack Dobrich ’13 agrees with Chappo that Facebook should be left alone on election night. “I don’t like to impose my beliefs on everybody else who has the fortune or misfortune of being friends with me on Facebook,” said Dobrich.

However, Mike Holtz ’13 has a different song to sing. Holtz believes that social media is an excellent way for the younger generation to voice their opinions on the election.

“I have political statuses, and quite a few. And I think that though we are students, and many students can’t vote,” said Holtz, “Eventually this is going to be our world and its our responsibility to have a say in it.”

Many concede that the political world is being shifted onto social media websites whether they like it or not. Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr all had massive reactions to the presidential election, with Twitter trends “Joe Biden”, “#election2012”, “#fourmoreyears”, “#TeamObama”, and “United States of America” all trending the day after the election.

Whether you like the Facebook politics or not, watching people duke it out on comment threads can be even more interesting than watching the election be announced.

About the Contributor

Cadence Neenan, Web Managing Editor

By the age of 18, most kids have not yet chosen their favorite word. In fact, most teenagers have never even thought about such a question. Perhaps a few have been asked on a “Getting to Know You” sheet handed out by English teachers on the first day of school. But in that case, most probably just mindlessly scribbled words onto their sheets such as “literally,” or “totally,” or “dude.” Cadence Neenan ’15, on the other hand, has thought about this deeply. Her favorite word is “loquacious.” Neenan grew up in a home that fostered a love for all things English. With her mom as a former Staples High School English teacher and her dad as a librarian, Neenan was destined for a love affair with vocabulary, grammar, and reading. “My mom always used to read to me ever since I was little,” she said. “I love to read because I was raised to be a good reader.” In school, Neenan has opted to create a heavy course load that reflects her love of English and reading. AP Lit, AP Lang, AP Euro, and AP Gov are just a few of the difficult classes Neenan has chosen to take on. For Neenan, however, much of the learning and “fun with English” goes on outside the class material. “The other night, I was reading a poem during English class,” Neenan said. “I really liked it, so I brought it home and showed my mom. We spent the whole 45 minutes at dinner rhetorically analyzing it and talking about the devices the author used. It was so fun.” Alongside typical English classes, Neenan has also become a part of Inklings to exercise her love of writing. After taking Intro to Journalism, she fell in love with newspaper writing and, since then, has proven herself to be an essential Inklings player, as she is now the Web Managing Editor. “When I found out that I got Web Managing I had a panic attack because I was so happy,” Neenan said. “I like being a managing editor because I love the freedom the web gives me to be creative with my ideas.” Neenan also plans to use her journalism and writing skills in college and, later, in her career. “In college I want to study political science, but I am considering using that to go into journalism,” Neenan said. “Going into journalism with a focus on politics is what I am really interested in.”

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Facebook and the 2012 Election

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