Social Media Increases Voter Turner

According to Haenschen, "use of the Internet has soared from 1.4% of American adults in 1983 to 87% in 2013, whereas turnout in national elections rarely exceeds 60% in presidential cycles and hovers around 40% in congressional midterms. Social networking sites are among the most popular uses of digital technology; currently 73% of online adults use Facebook, an 66% of users report having already taken at least at least one civic or political action on the platform. Furthermore, as social networking users tend to be younger and more ethnically diverse than the American electorate as a whole, Facebook presents a unique opportunity to underrepresented voter demographics (2016)." 

How social media increases voter turnout:
-social pressure messaging
-political participation and internet use
-social interaction

Study III: Social pressure by proxy

Examines when voter experience social pressure of those Facebook (Haenschen, 2016).  The people were not tagged but rather tagged each other (Haenschen, 2016). These voters lived Collin Count and more females were participants than males (Haenschen, 2016). It was found that social pressure did increase voter turnout.

Haenschen, K. (2016). Social Pressure on Social Media: Using Facebook Status Updates to Increase Voter Turnout. Journal Of Communication, 66(4), 542-563. doi: 10.1111/jcom.12236