Millennial Voters: According to this article, millennial voters match the Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the United States…but the biggest question of all is whether or not they will vote, and if they do vote, who will they vote for? It is estimated that there are 69.2 million millennials in the United States who are eligible to vote. One common denominator between most of these millennials is social media outlets like Facebook.
Facebook’s Impact: Facebook has a huge impact on the current election. More than ever, voters of all ages, races and genders are turning to Facebook to get the latest election updates, debate results, and venting about their feelings on the two candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Millennial voters are typically the best at venting about their feelings on Facebook. According to this article , there has been a lot of consternation in recent months about Facebook’s impact on politics. Mostly, Facebook could have an impact on the election because of the hyper-targeted campaign ads, suppressed trending topics and partisan censorship. To say the least, Facebook’s biggest impact on the election is that it is actually motivating and driving millennial voters to the polls. According to THIS ARTICLE, the majority of these voters are likely to vote Democrat.
Facebook Raised Voting Numbers: As all millennials are aware, we spend the majority of our days scrolling through the endless NewsFeed of our multiple social media outlets. Whether its Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, the media has stamped our brains with political messages. It turns out, according to this article , that social media outlets like Facebook have actually raised the number of millennial voters in almost every state.
Facebook Demographics: According to this article , the demographics of Facebook show that Facebook users are young, people of color, and women…all characteristics of a Democratic vote. Facebook lately has been trending stories that would suggest favorability in Hillary Clinton. These millennial “Facebookers” are faced with trending anti-Trump political advertisements along with pro-Hillary campaign videos.
Facebook Venting: Facebook has also served its purpose as a free therapist for many young voters. As the images shown below suggest, millennial voters are not quiet about or afraid to show their political preferences:
Pro Hillary Clinton Posts:
Pro Donald Trump Posts:
How The Candidates Could Gain Millennial Votes: Both candidates are striving to gain the last minute millennial votes as their campaigns for President are coming to a close. With just 14 days left in their campaigns, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are aiming their campaigns in swing states and among millennial voters. Focusing on issues like the economy, jobs, education costs, climate change, and even pro-choice/pro-life opinions are topics that (according to Facebook) can get the millennials thinking. Hillary Clinton should continue to gain millennial female voters by discussing issues like Pro-Choice and continue gaining millennial voters by campaigning about the importance of climate change. Donald Trump could continue to gain both male and female millennial voters by campaigning about the importance of Pro-Life and how he will create more jobs, and cut taxes. Lastly, both candidates should continue their strong stance on how they will make education more affordable for students and families.
How Facebook Should React: Facebook should continue getting voters interested in the election, but it should focus more on promoting each candidate giving them fair positive and negative coverage. Facebook has shown multiple feeds of live campaign coverage and it should continue showing the live feeds of both Presidential candidates.
Your choice of the word “venting” is spot on. As I scroll through my Facebook need, I see so many of my “friends” posting angry remarks about Trump. It seems as though everyone I am friends with is actively against Trump…I rarely see anything promoting him. I have heard this referred to as “slacktivism” taken from the word activism and it used to describe this brand of facebookers who vent and rant about their political views in their facebook posts but may not necessarily show up to the polls or give money or do anything else to help the cause. I also agree with your opinion that Facebook may affect the election because of their hyper-targeted messages. Whether it is political, fashion, cooking, etc. Facebook does have a way of surprising me with how well they know me. I believe that Facebook could be and is being used strategically to target millennials.
The value of Facebook as an effective campaign tool is undisputed. Unfortunately, younger voters may not attend the poles in droves due to disgruntlement with both candidates. I hope this is not the case, and it would be encouraging to see young, educated people make their mark in the election. While 66 percent youth participation might be too high of a watermark (Obama reached this in 2008), I believe political activism spread via social media dissemination will be a valuable commodity to draw in last minute millennials.