The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media in Politics
Earlier this month, Korean citizens took to the streets to protect their democracy after South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to raise martial law for his power, accusing “Communists” and “North Korean” spies in the opposing party. A few days later, Yoon was impeached after enough votes in parliament went through successfully. This was not the first time Koreans had impeached their president. They led months of protests, filling streets in front of government buildings holding candles, to impeach ex-president Park Geun-Hye, who was also convicted of corruption of power during her presidency. The success of these historical protests can be attributed to the extensive social media networks.
Social media has been rapidly developing in the past decade with unwarranted speeds. More people than ever are now connected, breaking barriers of country, age, appearance, gender and even language. The impact of social media on our society has even expanded to the political sphere as the prominent use of social media has established participatory democracy, encouraging citizens to engage themselves in shaping and promoting the modern-day political landscape. The impeachments of Korean presidents Yoon and Park, as explained above are modern examples, alongside campaigns of history such as the Arab Spring or even in the 2024 election epitomize the significance of social media as a tool of preserving participatory democracy and making individual voices are louder and clearer than ever for all governments and society to hear.
Many around the world, especially living in countries of political corruption, had very little say and no voice regarding the political landscape that they were living in. Thanks to social media, which have allowed protests to form, allowing civilians to stand up for themselves as seen in the Arab Spring, social media has not only encouraged the citizens to gain momentum, but to rebuild the foundations of their democracy, fueling the spread of political awareness and social justice, not only for locals but also for the global community. Pages showing the brutality and corruption, polls, chat rooms and videos quickly helped the rest of the world directly see what was happening in the Middle East, garnering support and sympathy from millions using these platforms globally.
Obviously, social media in a political world has had its negatives, serving as a platform that polarizes already opposing parties even further. False news, biased outlooks, the freedom to post anything have especially torn the USA’s political landscapes recently, as Democrats and Republicans are getting more and more divided by the day. A report by NYU researchers have found that social media platforms may be intentionally pushing extreme political views as a means of getting more engagement and more advertisement as a result, fueling political hatred and polarity as users tend to only watch news that they agree with or violently interact with posts that have the opposite viewpoints.
