Research Of Why Millennials Overlook The Political World
Usually, the words such as J.C. would attract many religious people to read more, even go as far as spreading the information by word of mouth. When Jimmy Carter was running for president, he used the play on words to entice the voting population with his slogan “J.C. can save America.” Posters such as Carter’s use to be a great way to show the public a candidate’s opinions and point of view. Now, that was in 1976, so imagine if we were living in that time, we would’ve totally passed by and not even noticed the posters with vivid colors and play on words. That brings me to my next point, why do millennials overlook the political world? How do new candidates change their campaign strategy to attract young adults to vote? And finally, how do the new ways of the voting process improve the voter turnout overall? Shouldn’t our use of technology make voting more accessible to voters all from the comfort of their home? Well, that’s what I initially thought, but came to learn that it was not.
The voting process is something not many people are willing to go through, especially young people. Even with new ways of reaching out to voters through modern advertisements, such as through social media or a creative campaign video, voter turnout has decreased due to the lack of voters willing to go through the stressful and tedious process. Campaign posters might have worked for other generations but placing them on the wall will have no success in this time period. Just the cost of running a campaign has increased 3oo percent since 1986, Obama even spent up to $745.7 million in 2012.
Today, posters from previous candidates are just reminders of the old aesthetic, compared to the new outlets of campaign advertisement, posters are a weak source of communication between the candidate and the public. Introducing themselves to the public through tv commercials and social media, give them attention from all different age groups, including the large population of young adults between the age of 18 and 24.Before voting, most people tend to observe the candidate’s campaign through their advertising. Candidates use different techniques in order to address voters that are likely to follow their specific party. By knowing what type of voter to reach out to, candidates can know what’s the best advertisement to influence their voters to come out and vote. Yet, the vast majority of eligible voters are young adults, who are sometimes exposed to political views at school. Those who are not, are expected to look past the opportunity to express their right to vote.
Young adults are influenced by their surroundings such as social media, family, friends, and school. These factors are essential to how young adults vote or decide not to vote. In order to get young adults to vote, candidates should create advertisements in several media platforms, in which they share their views on political problems, right?
Well according to Rick Edwards TED Talk, candidates don’t usually direct their attention to young adults. Edwards introduces how less than one in four young adults are likely to vote and how this also affects even future generations of voters. A reason for their lack of voting is due to political leaders not understanding young adults’ issues. In order to change the voter turnout in young adults, candidates had to change their campaign strategies. Beto O’Rourke has changed the game when it comes to reaching out to the young crowd. He has visited 254 counties in Texas, where he visits the real community of Texans and gets to know their issues. This strategy has reached social media and has been seen by many young adults in Texas on their Twitter trend list. Vote for Beto has been on many young adults’ mind due to the constant news of his tour and videos of his speeches on different media platforms. Even in college campuses around Texas, students have been introduced to his campaign and have created an accessible form of voting. Move Texas is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help young people to vote by bringing the registration form to them. Even though it’s not online or speeds up the process, it does bring young and eligible voters to become involved in the political world.
Imagine just having to tap the name of the candidate on your phone, how many people would actually vote if this was the case? Many. Especially the young population who would now have their power to vote with just a touch of their phone screens. Well, this is not so farfetched of a dream anymore, a company called Votem can now verify and count votes as they come in on their blockchain voting platform. Blockchain technology is a way that a transaction, such as a vote, can be tracked down and prevents fraud due to the storage of the history of the transaction. The company has tested its system and wants to open its use to the 2018 midterm elections. This voting system would change the voter turnout overall and would give young adults a voice among the political regime.
