Media & Elections

I began my capstone with the question of: how does media technologies affect the way people vote/think in elections? After researching a fairly broad spectrum of eras in history and advancements, I think its fair to say I could develop a thesis. Going back to what Postman said about the debates during the 19th century, radio, television, and today's social media, I feel there is a trend in what's happening. With every advancement in technology, politics has become more personalized than ever since swing states become targetted with ads and demographics are fought over in campaigns. The radio allowed a connection with the voice of the speaker, TV let people see who the voice was, and social media gave the person even more personality and relatability. Every iteration had made people more involved and more connected to politics than ever before, but also less informed and easily manipulated than ever before. While this is a very brief summary of my capstone's conclusion the full one can be read in the PDF linked.