It is hard to believe it has been a month since the Presidential election. The months leading up to the election made me very uncertain, with many polls stating that Donald Trump could not beat Kamala Harris. I am glad that regardless of how the media portrayed him, the country collectively embraced Trump as a leader.
Media coverage in this election was a turning point in politics, with many polls recognizing a sharp decline in media trust, some of the worst we have ever seen. Getting news that is geared toward something other than making one party look bad is challenging. It makes it frustrating to fully understand who to vote for or what exactly you are voting for because most of the news you see is adjusted to fit the storyline that best supports the candidate the network wants to win.
Many employees of CNN spoke out after the election and criticized the way their network and other Democrats acted. One host of CNN, David Urban, discussed how their fellow hosts should take a step back and recognize that maybe Trump was right on some things. Julie Roginsky explained that Democrats "do not know how to communicate effectively to voters." This depicts how even the employees at these news networks are frustrated about how they must portray specific candidates instead of reporting real and honest news. It also shows how even Democrats see where their party went wrong in this election and blame each other for the loss more than they blame Harris herself.
This caused more people to turn to apps like TikTok and X for their news, which has been considered positive and negative. With TikTok, your algorithm is geared towards what party you affiliate with versus X, which provides you with various sources, allowing individuals to have a more well-rounded opinion on politics. An app like X does this because it will enable people to understand both parties and be inclined to vote based on an educated opinion, not a swayed one. With an app like TikTok, the videos presented tend to fit the party you affiliate with. It gives little to no room for people to hear opposing views, which creates more polarization because of a lack of understanding. When users finally get a video that discusses political views that oppose their own, the videos tend to be met with harsh criticism in the comments.
TikTok was used for both parties' campaigns, and both were met with great success. While Harris took a more entertaining route on TikTok, Trump had a better balance of making jokes, creating memes, and making more informative videos about his political views. Kamala focused more on just creating memes, which, I admit, her team did better than Trump, but there was a lack of substantial information on her TikTok that would encourage people to want to vote for her.Â
After the election, women started going on TikTok stating how they were losing their rights; even some of my classmates were posting it. It was concerning to see posts like this being made by women who are old enough to recognize that no one was losing their rights and that suggesting such a thing was harmful to others and inconsiderate of many women in other countries who do not have the same freedoms that we do here in the United States. Others posted pictures on TikTok and Instagram, saying they did not want to associate with anyone who voted for Trump. It was disappointing and concerning to see. For these sorts of things to be posted on social media made some lose respect for the Democratic party, while others realized that their party needed change if they wanted a Democrat back in office in four years.
The issue is that most individuals want to refrain from discussing politics. They believe their opinion is correct and that anyone who disagrees with them is wrong. There are two parties for a reason, and people should embrace those around them with views that differ from theirs. This includes more open discussions between individuals with different opinions; it must become a priority. We must encourage change in news networks and bring back more news stations presenting nonbiased news. Social media and its integration into campaigns will continue to grow, but that must be met with caution. Future presidents-elects should consider how they will use social media to further their campaign strategy. Still, they must also embrace traditions in politics instead of putting so much pressure on appealing to young voters by trying to hop on their trends.
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