Abstract: This paper discusses the way politics is performed in the age of social media through
popular platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. While these platforms function as a site
for networking and information sharing, these sites also contain a wealth of data about the
users ready to be mined by any interested parties, be it for political or economic gains.
This feature is a characteristic of the present world brought about by the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. As the world is increasingly becoming online, traditional way of doing and
performing politics, ranging from practicing politics to communicating about politics, has
changed. The paper outlines five interrelated ways in which politics are now performed
online and the implications to governance and democracy. Following the argument of
Neil Postman on public discourse in the age of television, this paper argues that in the age
of social media, politics is now performed not only in an entertaining manner, but social
media has also encouraged speculations and uncertainties among its citizens. Thus, while
the potential for social media is there to increase political participation among citizens, it
also carries with it the danger of creating a mis-informed public despite the wealth of
political information available.
Publication Year: 2019
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot