Role of social media in politics

Abstract

Social Media today is an interface between society and individual. The digital platform has changed the traditional view of engaging with politics. Anybody possessing a digital gadget today is content consumer and creator as well. This act of consumption and creation impacts our day-to-day politics. Movements like Occupy Movement in U.S.A., Brexit in UK show digital arena is becoming a new space for public discourse and political struggles. There is more to social media shaping politics i.e., usage of social media generated data of an individual or group by political parties to target voters. In this context ‘likes generated’ content is extracted without consent and big tech algorithms’ surround user with echo chamber information, thereby creating recipe for misinformation and sow seed of a polarized society.