The Power of Web 2.0: Influencing Millennials During the 2008 US Presidential Elections

This thesis will examine what effects web 2.0 had on the likelihood of millennials to vote in the 2008 US presidential elections. To tackle this question millennials and their characteristics should be looked into. Since most of the people that use web 2.0 to get campaign information are people born between 1977 and 1994, consequentially the focus will be on this age group, also known as millennials or generation X (New Strategist Press 255). In fact 6 out of 10 millennials report that they use Facebook as their major source to get their campaign information (Mitchell, Gottfried and Matsa 2). Moreover, this thesis will cover how media in general can influence the public and what kind of effects a message can have. Media influencing theories such as coercion, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, framing, and the inoculation theory will be examined as well as what effects these could have on the public. By means of a literature review the effects of web 2.0 on the likelihood to vote will...Show moreThis thesis will examine what effects web 2.0 had on the likelihood of millennials to vote in the 2008 US presidential elections. To tackle this question millennials and their characteristics should be looked into. Since most of the people that use web 2.0 to get campaign information are people born between 1977 and 1994, consequentially the focus will be on this age group, also known as millennials or generation X (New Strategist Press 255). In fact 6 out of 10 millennials report that they use Facebook as their major source to get their campaign information (Mitchell, Gottfried and Matsa 2). Moreover, this thesis will cover how media in general can influence the public and what kind of effects a message can have. Media influencing theories such as coercion, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, framing, and the inoculation theory will be examined as well as what effects these could have on the public. By means of a literature review the effects of web 2.0 on the likelihood to vote will be touched upon. Thereby the concepts of political participation and political engagement will be clarified. The rise of web 2.0 up to the presidential elections of 2008 will also be explored. Again, by means of a literature review scholars’ view on the social media use during the 2008 presidential elections and the most frequently used social networking sites, or SNS, such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace will be examined. Subsequently, the actual social media campaign of presidential candidate Barack Obama has to be analyzed. This analysis will look at how the characteristics of millennials in combination with the discussed media influencing theories and the influence of web 2.0 affected the likelihood to vote among millennials. All this research will be done with the theory of cognitive dissonance in mind. Cognitive dissonance theory states that a person experiences dissonance, a feeling of emotional discomfort, whenever his or her actions and cognitions are in conflict and will seek to reduce this dissonance (Dickinson and Oxoby 297). What is expected is that due to the theory of cognitive dissonance people will tend to look up information that already fits their framework and will actively seek for affirmation with their peers, especially when confronted with this feeling of dissonance.Show less

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The Power of Web 2.0: Influencing Millennials During the 2008 US Presidential Elections