WHETHER it is YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, people are turning to social media for information and entertainment.
That is why in this election season, politicians are investing in social media platforms to send their messages across. In the US for instance, politicians are using TikTok to campaign for votes.
But not all who are popular in TikTok wins. There are politicians for instance with large followings in TikTok such as Matt Little (a former Liberal member of the Minnesota Senate) and Joshua Collins (a socialist who ran for US representative for Washington), lost in their respective elections despite their popularity in TikTok. But there are candidates who had succeeded in TikTok by attracting a large following that helped them greatly in winning the elections but few candidates were really successful (New York Times dated March 18, 2022).
So it does not mean that when a politician or a business hire somebody who has a large following in Facebook or YouTube or TikTok, to promote their candidacy or their products, that the “celebrity” will automatically bring in the needed votes or revenue for businesses. It still depends on the content of the posts.
In recent statistics Facebook still leads among social media platforms worldwide in 2022 followed by YouTube, WhatsApp Instagram, Facebook Messenger and TikTok.
Why Facebook? This platform attracts both young and old. In fact in the same report, it says that it’s the go-to platform of people ages 65 and above. It does not mean though that this age group dominates Facebook but this demographics is the fastest growing age range in Facebook at 21 percent growth in 2021. The age group of 25-34 though still dominates Facebook (wordstream.com updated March 12, 2022).
YouTube though is becoming the No. 1 social media in the United States according to the same report above. If we are to observe in this election season in the Philippines, people turn to YouTube too for news, updates, debates, political rallies and events. But it is in Facebook where we usually receive a link to YouTube or TikTok for the popular and latest news about our candidates for instance and controversial issues for the day.
Speaking of politics, it garnered the highest engagement rates in Facebook at a whopping 96 percent compared to healthcare at 51 percent and restaurant-café and finance both at 43-percent engagement rates. But take note, you should be aware that the reason why topics on your candidate keeps popping in your news feeds is because of algorithm.
The more you are engaged in a certain topic and the more you click likes and react to a certain posts, those are organized by algorithms to bring the kind of content you will usually see in your news feeds. So it does not necessarily mean that you candidate is the most engaged topic because it always pops up in your news feeds.
In YouTube, however, you can see the number of viewers and likes from the public and not just from your own circle of friends just like in Facebook when you happen to limit your audience in Facebook.
Businesses are now using TikTok to promote their products. Churches and non-profit organizations are using TikTok to send their messages. While there are talks going around that the security of your data in TikTok is being compromised because it can be a venue for China to access your private information, in a recent report it refutes this theory.
National security experts disputed the fear of data privacy invasion emphasizing that the application “would be a relatively inefficient way for China to obtain US intelligence” According to the director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations, other better ways for the Chinese agencies to get information is through phishing emails and specific attacks on a staff of a politician or the politician himself or even buying data on the open market (nytimes.com dated March 19, 2022).
So guys, go ahead and use TikTok and your Facebook or YouTube and whatever social media applications you fancied using but be a responsible content writer or user. These social media platform can be a boon but can also be a bane if not handled responsibly. And did I say use your time wisely? It can be also a time “robber” but it should be in another topic for another article.
For politics, is social media the present-day successful political campaigning or a venue for fake news and political skirmishes?
Wilma Miranda is the chairperson of the Finex Ethics Committee, Managing Partner of Inventor, Miranda & Associates, CPAs and Member of the Board of Directors of KPS Outsourcing Inc. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions.