Voting in the Digital Age

So as I’m sure you’re aware, there was a general election recently. There were lots of discussion on whether the polls are right, what works and what doesn’t. Who will come out on top?
But taking a step back from your candidate preference, how does social media look to you? Who’s getting their point across?

I see lots of debates going on, some strong willed people fighting for a party with solid facts. Then I see people fighting for something that I don’t really think they truly understand. Sometimes they even talk themselves out of a debate and look sheepish.

Is the media to blame? Is Social media to blame? Is fake news to blame?

Lots of people share graphs, videos, bullet points of simply designed information that is clearly biased. People feed on these and believe every word they read.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that in my opinion I see Labour voters being a lot more vocal on social media. However if you read the comments on debates then Labour supporters suggest that they are the ones shying away from being vocal on these platforms. Is this the case, are Facebook throwing debates in our face that show the other party being more popular?

But then we must take into consideration that Labour supporters tend to be younger, so therefore more inclined to voice their opinions on social media. This compared to the older generation who tend to support the Conservatives, who may not even have a social media account.

It would be interesting to see what these social media discussions would look like if Labour were in power. Would the balance switch? Politics has certainly kicked off now social media is in our lives and for most of that, the conservatives have been in number 10.

What are your thoughts? Would the Conservative supporters be more vocal on social media if Labour were in power?