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University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley

How Do Different Social Media Platforms Play A Role in

Ricardo Marroquin

ENGL 1302

Dr. Amanda Kay Cruz

14 August 2020
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Over the past generations, our world has adapted to a new society where the internet has

become more useful than ever. The internet has expanded to new limits, and we have all grown

to use it for the tools that it offers on a daily basis. These tools expand to individual of all ages,

ranging from elementary school students to college students. This brought a beginning to social

media and has become very accessible to all individuals. It seems like our society revolves

around these social media platforms as they offer so much for people of all ages. With such a

variety of social media platforms, they each have a purpose to influence individuals to believe,

buy, partake in something. This can range from politics, to fashion, to stocks to mostly anything

that is relevant today. However, it is statistically proven that these social media platforms play a

huge role in the lives of college students of all ages. As college students access social media, we

see how social media plays a huge influence in their political takes, what genres they partake in,

and how it ties into a discourse community.

It is undeniable that once entering a social media platform like Twitter or Facebook, you

will get swarmed with posts related to political content. It is a given, that politics is always

trending whether you like it or not. These platforms serve as a way to give intake to individuals

who might not be as interested in politics, or simply just to those who have no idea whether they

are in the right or wrong. These platforms serve as a way to attract votes, ideas, debates and help

push an individual to elect the side they will stand with. This reality and norm became

mainstream back in the 2008 Presidential election.

It was the year Barack Obama successfully used social media to attract more people who

represent his side. In an article written by Isabella Bacino, she mentions how “social media, in

particular, has become the largest medium for political discussion and debate” (Bacino 2). This

goes to show the impact this has on students of all ages but especially college students who tend
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to have developed a tendency to form opinions on their own and be the required age to vote.

College students are in the ideal year to start making decisions on their own interests and have

social media as a way to find what suits them. Further into her article, Bacino states that “when

asked about social media use, a considerable amount of students (88%) reported using social

media more than five times a day” (Bacino 4). This exemplifies the absurd number of hours and

times a regular college student glances at their phone scrolling through social media. This

supports evidence that these students use social media platforms to their advantage to understand

politics and what their personal affiliation with it might be. Bacino even goes on to prove that

when asked students they agreed that “social media has an effect on them in terms of influencing

their political opinions and affiliation and a vast majority (82%) reported that it does” (Bacino 5).

This can correlate to how powerful Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Election campaign was so

dominate. The fact the he himself is on social media making statements, makes for students to

acknowledge that and side with him.

When speaking about a discourse community like college students, most have the same

taste, which is to download every trending social media app there is. Their intentions and uses

are different which is what attracts students the most. This goes to show the different type of

defining characteristics which is genre and how it is used in this specific discourse community.

Some of the most popular social media platforms that concentrate highly on politics includes:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and a trending super platform that is on the rise being

TikTok. All of these in their own way include messages, statements, posts, tweets all concerning

politics in our country and how our generation of students can do something about it.

Personally speaking, I can testify to say that every single one of the applications has

constant political content most of the time. This is because nobody is ever right when it comes to
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politics because we all share different views and beliefs. This is what makes these apps enjoyable

is seeing the range of content and which satisfies you. Mentioning TikTok is very important as it

has built an empire and has gained billions of users over the past years. TikTok has a way of

sharing its content through videos which we can all agree is what attracts people the most. “Live

social video is especially powerful for smaller, local politicians who need to address issues.

(Sprout Social). Live videos which most of these platforms offers help attract people to hear

what you have to say. We all have a voice, and we can use that voice to advocate for someone

who is truly doing something amazing. These different genres help identify the type of ongoing

building community college students have. This can include direct messages which are

accessible in every application as a way of sending information to each other, like a text

message. This brings more attention, as well as more information to the person you may be

sending something to (Sprout Social).

So why college students? My intent was to choose a discourse community that has

similar goals and mindsets, as a discourse community should obtain. College students study to

earn a degree to then work and earn a proper wage. The same cannot be said for high school

students whereas for them, what they plan on doing after high school could be up in the air.

Some decide to continue studying, some decide to work, and some just decide to become a stay

at home parent. As John Swales says in his journal article, The Concept of Discourse

Community, “A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common goals” (Swales 220).

College students main priority is to pass all classes to then graduate and earn a degree. They

share that same mindset to study for over 4-6 years in order to acquire what could be best for

them. Swales also mentions in his reading how “goals are public, because spies may join speech

and discourse community for hidden purposes” (Swales 220). Many students use social media as
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a way to publicize their achievements and recognitions in regard to them going through college

studies. A majority of all students love to post about the political interest as a way to share what

their personal beliefs are. They plan this as some sort of goal amongst them to attract or convince

others to think about their own personal political opinion.

What is it about social media that lures students to want to interact with the social and

political world? In an book published by Daniel Miller; he informs us of the many way students

involve themselves with social media. One being, “how they do consolidate a trend towards

scalable sociality” (Miller 10). Meaning that social media has become a huge trend whereas it

pulls students who are not even social to a much large public society. Whether you consider

yourself to be social or not, there is always going to be a platform for what form you identify

yourself. Miller also mentions how, “a world able to facilitate the coming together of groups

with specialist interests” (Miller 11). This is where those students who involve themselves with

politics come into play. This is their opportunity to be a part of their own political take, as well

as trying to inform others of what they believe is best for our country. There are countless groups

like these found online, where one side may support the Republicans while the others support the

Democrats.

As our world moves forward, so will our technological advances. This means that

as long as there is humans, new innovations of technology will be there too. Social media has

changed the way we view or world, and in specific our country. It has depicted, influenced, and

motivated all types of people to share what political beliefs will shape our country into a positive

light. A discourse community like college students will always be very exposed to social media

and will change the way thousands of students view our country. Along with all the different

types of genres, social media will always play a role in college students’ political awareness.
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Works Cited

“Academic Studies of Social Media.” How the World Changed Social Media, by Daniel Miller et
al., 1st ed., vol. 1, UCL Press, London, 2016, pp. 9–24. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1g69z35.9. Accessed 15 Aug. 2020.

Bacino, Isabella. “The Effect of Social Media Content on Influencing Political Opinions and
Affiliation Among College Students INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON
POLITICAL OPINIONS AND AFFILIATION.” Academia.edu,
www.academia.edu/37655041/The_Effect_of_Social_Media_Content_on_Influencing_P
olitical_Opinions_and_Affiliation_Among_College_Students_INFLUENCE_OF_SOCIA
L_MEDIA_ON_POLITICAL_OPINIONS_AND_AFFILIATION.

Barnhart, Brent. “Social Media and Politics: 10 Best Practices for Campaigns to Know.” Sprout
Social, 10 June 2020, sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-political-campaigns/.

Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Community.” Genre Analysis: English in Academic
and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21–32. Print.