Social media’s role in the Election

— it appears emotions on social media are intensifying. one s-u professor tells us how social media played a major role during the election — and offers some analysis on the resulting reactions and opinions online. 47 abc justina coronel has the story. track 1 with one little click– it’s easy enough to unfriend someone on social media — if you disagree with their political opinions. it was commonplace during the election — and even though a president elect has been chosen — it is still happening. and salisbury university’s assistant professor of communications — dr. jennifer cox — says it’s concerning. but we see just the very visceral effects of this election immediately, where we see people unfriending each other. where we have people just not being respectful on both sides of the platform and it’s really dangerous to try and judge people in 140 characters. track 2 if you scroll through your newsfeed– it’s a safe bet — you can find plenty of people openly airing their views about the results of the 2016 election. which cox says makes sense — since social media played such a major role in this election. the candidates made themselves more personally available on social media than in any election we’ve ever seen before. it allowed us to have a forum for our perspectives and for talking about these things and using it as almost a voting recruiting tool. track 3 we spoke to some s-u students– and one senior victoria radcliffe, says the amount of people discussing political issues has swarmed her newsfeed. i think it really just depends how strong you are, if you want to see other people’s opinions on facebook besides your own. it’s up to you, that’s really what social media is. it’s tailored to your needs and specifications, so if you don’t want to see something you have that right not to see it. track 4 despite the potential for online ugliness… cox says social media is a great tool to create positive change. we can use it as a tool to launch conversation, to organize things that would lead to change, positive change. but we shouldn’t use them as a weeding out tool to say you’re worthy of my friendship, and you’re not. track 5 justina coronel 47 abc. have you unfriended anyone during or after the election 2016 process? have you been unfriended. we’d like to hear what you have to say about this social media trend. head to our website — 47 abc dot com — and leave your comment under justina’s story on our homepage. return day in delaware — brings politicians of all