Politiktok: How TikTok influences American politics

Mass media plays a key role in shaping political attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors, acting as the main way individuals receive information about politics. While media exposure can have positive effects, like increasing political engagement and knowledge, it can also lead to negative outcomes, like reinforcing misinformation and polarization. This impact can be seen most commonly from traditional news outlets, but the same effects can be seen on social platforms like TikTok as well. One of the primary benefits of mass media is its potential to enhance political knowledge and empathy. According to Dunaway and Graber, political scientist Daniel Lerner discussed a personality trait called “empathic capacity.” This theory posited that when media present new concepts, audiences empathize with what is happening in the story and try to imitate it. An example they gave was when audience members view a news piece about slum dwellers and the accommodations they live in, viewers will apply that ...

In the 2024 General Election, a prevailing narrative that has taken hold is the fight for women’s reproductive rights and immigration. Kamala Harris’ campaign has highlighted her intentions to reinstate Roe v. Wade and statewide access to abortions and reproductive healthcare, while Donald Trump’s campaign is sticking with the recently-adopted “leave it up to the states” motto. While Harris’ platform focuses on women’s issues, Trump’s campaign is still focusing on illegal immigration and the “border crisis.” Many of Trump’s ads attack migrants and Harris’ policies as vice president, calling her the “border czar” and using foreboding music to make viewers associate immigration with feelings of unease and distrust. That can be seen in this advertisement , as well as many of the other ads from his team. Meanwhile, the Harris/Walz campaign has taken the platform that women have the right to choose and Roe v. Wade protections must be reinstated. Her ads take a gentle, empathetic approach to...

The Democratic Party and Republican Party websites and social media pages both strategically employ charged content such as text, colors, and symbols, to promote their goals to the audience. The websites serve as important platforms for political communication, each employing distinct strategies to convey their messages and engage with voters. For a comparison, both websites heavily employ their designated colors (blue and red, respectively) to drive home the point that they are Democratic and Republican. Blue is a psychologically calming color, while red symbolizes strength and urgency.  When you open the Democratic Party website , you are immediately shown a full-screen pop up that reads, in all caps, “TIME IS RUNNING OUT,” in reference to the fact that there are approximately three weeks until the election ends. The homepage contains messages to “fight for a brighter, more equal future” and includes a tab at the top for a Spanish translation. There is also a wide photo of Kamala...

CBS and Murrow’s “Harvest of Shame” is one of the best examples of advocacy journalism in history. From a journalistic standpoint, the documentary is well-filmed, contains several hard-hitting and valuable interviews, and a good balance of emotions and facts to educate and influence the audience. People from different sides of the issues were given chances to speak. The documentary opened up with harrowing accounts and heartbreaking interviews with some of the migrant workers and ended with a succinct call to action from Murrow, urging Americans to fight for the migrant workers because they don’t have the political power to advocate for themselves.      “Harvest of Shame” is a perfect work of advocacy journalism that served to educate Americans on the plight of migrant workers and uplift the group. Airing the documentary right after Thanksgiving was also a genius decision, because as Murrow said, the food on America’s tables would not be there if not for the overlooked la...

Strategic communication is the method by which people in power, at least their public relations teams, control media narratives to spin stories in favor of their employer. This can apply to businesses, celebrities, and politicians alike.There are four components of strategic communication: message shaping, message salience, message credibility, and message framing. How do we see these strategies utilized in the modern day, especially on social media platforms like TikTok? Shaping is when public relations representatives generate simple messages and themes to show the audience, which the audience then absorbs and recalls when the specific issues are brought up. On TikTok, this can be seen by brands and politicians using hashtags and short campaign slogans to succinctly share their message to the audience. Message salience refers to the importance of repetition in getting one's message across. Communication channels need to be inundated with the simple messages to ensure they reach t...

On this blog, I have previously discussed the U.S. government's attempts to implement a TikTok ban due to concerns over China allegedly using the app to spy on Americans. The potential ban is deeply controversial across partisan lines. Despite the many valid criticisms of the app, people across the world use the platform to share news and firsthand accounts of major events.  Caitlin Vogus, a senior advisor at Freedom of the Press Foundation, wrote that banning TikTok is unconstitutional and, "could set a precedent that empowers the government to censor or outlaw news outlets, too." She goes on to list the five main reasons why a ban would be against the Constitution. They are as follows:  Even if the government labels something as foreign propaganda, the First Amendment prevents the government from banning speech.  Forcing divestment, rather than just banning TikTok, still violates the First Amendment.  Americans have the right to free speech, and that includes the ...