Government in Social Media

In my case study, I delved into the government’s involvement in social media. Because governmental involvement is generally a new idea, I focused my idea on how politicians, in the past, rejected media and now it is embraced. It was rejected because it encouraged knowledge to the people. Now, these political figures have embraced social media because it allows them to be the gatekeepers of news. Government officials were almost forced to join the social media movement because asynchronous communication was starting to create problems, in that; there was no filtration in the information being shared. So in order to try and regain power over the common man, they had to ensure that their opinions and stances were explained. This case study uses scholarly citations to help explain that “with the coming of new media, people who have long been on the receiving end of one-way mass communication are now increasingly likely to become producers and transmitters”. Because politicians and government officers are being so strictly monitored, it is easy for individuals to make mistakes that could hurt their careers and reputations. Following that, it is easy for important officials to control and influence media. This was well represented in the case study done on “Fake News”. President Trump was able to discredit and jeopardize the integrity of news stations that rival his opinions. The overall purpose of this case study is to explain the power of gatekeepers and how much politicians have evolved in the sense of social media.

Banerjee, I. 2008. “The Impact of New Media on Traditional Mainstream Mass Media – A Critical    Assessment.” A Series of Lectures on Trends & Future of the Malaysian Mass Media. Presented at Dewan Tunku Canselor, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur. 

Straubhaar, Joseph, and Robert Larose. (2008). Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture and Technology. Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth Company.