Research Proposal: How do the College Democrats Communicate Their Goals Through Social Media?
As I enter Florida State University, I realize the amount of resources I have and just how many opportunities I can take. The one I think I am most interested in is one of the political organizations here on campus – the College Democrats. I’m interested in becoming more active in the political sphere and being more informed on policy issues and having a better understanding of what’s going on in our government at both the state and national levels. I discovered the College Democrats through a friend a year ahead of me and have been interested in joining ever since. Before beginning my research, I didn’t have a very specific idea of where I wanted to go with my paper. After investigating more, I stumbled upon the fact that social media has seemingly become very important in the way the organization communicates their goal. I have looked at their multiple social media pages, interviewed two different members, Nathan, the Vice President, and Brian, a newer member, and went through a few personal pages as well. According to Nathan Davis, “The College Democrats exist to educate Florida State students on the values of the Democratic party.” I eventually decided on the following question: How do the College Democrats use their social media to reach this goal? Our nation is currently in a state of social and political unrest, and I plan to investigate in my paper how the Dems respond to it, how they use their pages to get their message across, and what exactly their message is.
An Introduction to the College Democrats: Brian Gonzalez
Brian is currently a sophomore at FSU. He is 19 and is a jazz and philosophy dual major, and spends most of his time playing trumpet. The end goal, however, is politics. He joined the College Democrats last year. When I called him for the interview, he asked, “You want to do it now? You just caught me in between calling churches.” Brian joined the College Democrats spring semester of last year. “I felt like,” he said, “there’s so much I could do. I could be making a difference. I feel like the organization is going uphill and I want to be a part of that.” Well, what kind of difference do you want to make? “First of all, I want to expand out outreach to the Tallahassee community, not just FSU. We have to be more involved and have a bigger impact. This campus is full of liberals, right? So, there’s no reason the College Republicans should be bigger and more organized than us. The way we do that is with more ads, more canvassing, just getting out there more. When people think ‘organization,’ I don’t want them to think Chocolate Club or something. I want them to think College Democrats.”
What exactly are the College Democrats? “Well, they help the Democratic party in many ways.” Some examples were events like a phone call group where they called senators to defend DACA. The College Dems also raise money, have voter registration booths, have rallies, etc. “I only joined in the spring semester, so unfortunately I haven’t been able to attend many events… They’re also kind of bad at communication. It’s pretty hard to know when stuff is going on.” However, there’s supposed to be some changes going on next year, with the new leadership coming in. Meeting times are going to be moved to Tuesday to fit people’s schedules. I heard from Nathan Davis on this subject, “ .” From Brian, “I’m excited for next year though. I really feel like it’s going to change. Don’t quote me on that though.” Don’t quote you on it? “I mean, you can put it in the interview. But don’t quote me on it.”
Members of the College Democrats are obviously very passionate about what’s going on under our current administration. I asked Brian, how do you feel about the Trump administration? “Well, I don’t feel too good about it!” Why’s that? “The way he’s handling foreign affairs is atrocious. I mean, social issues, economic issues, foreign policy, it’s just awful.” At some point, the words “actual vomit worthy” were thrown around. “I almost hate the cabinet more than the man himself. They genuinely don’t know what they’re doing.” Do you want to go into politics yourself? “Yeah. There’s so much that could be done. I want to live my life knowing I helped people, whether it’s nation, county, whatever.” What do you want to do in politics? “That’s a tough question. I don’t think I could answer that right now. I do know, that the first thing I want to fix is the education system. I want the same level of schooling, rich neighborhood or poor neighborhood. Everyone deserves the same level of education.”
How do you get involved in the College Democrats? “Last year I tried running for an executive position. I didn’t get it, I had only joined in the spring, but I wanted to get my face out there. I also plan on joining caucuses. I’m also working on my own project… I want the Dems to look at it and think, ‘look at what we could be doing.’” As stated in the beginning, I caught him in the act of calling local churches. When I asked why, he explained that he was teaming up with a church to give a class full of students school supplies. “They’re going to set it up with the school. I don’t know exactly what school it is, but they’re gonna have some people help me, and I think I’m going to get to go in person.” On his Instagram page, there’s a link to a GoFundMe page, called “Schools and Voter Registration Drive.” The goal is to help low income students by giving them any school supplies they might need. “The backpacks come in Friday. They all come with pencils, crayons, highlighters, and a pencil pouch. My mom is helping too, she found these notebooks and she’s buying 25 of them. I think we’re gonna make patches with little animals as well, and they can pick which one they want on their bag.” “I’m really excited… to think there’s gonna be a classroom full of kids with all the school supplies they need. It’s exciting.”
Brian is just one of many of the College Democrats who joined the organization wanting to make a change. He’s a good example of how the Dems try to reach their overall goal – creating change in the community. He’s also an example of how they use social media to advocate for their goals, with the GoFundMe being accessible through his Instagram and Facebook.
A Community Profile: College Democrats and Social Media
When I looked at the FSU College Democrats’ Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages, the first thing I was greeted with was the smiling face of someone dressed in blue. Many of their posts include pictures of their members at different events. There’s one post of a group of kids dressed in blue, at the “Out of the Darkness” walk for suicide prevention. Another is of some higher up members surrounded by laptops, pens, and sticky notes, celebrating the election of a democrat in House District 114, captioned “We managed to make to make over 200 calls to help Javier Fernandez get out the vote!” Below that, someone’s responded “You guys rock.” There’s an abundance of posts advertising reasons to call your senators, and a lot of events where they group up to do this together. Many are simply updates on policy actions being taken under our current administration (if you can call our administration “simple”). There are also plenty of posts encouraging people to vote.
There’s a series of posts on their Instagram page called the “Dem Spotlight.” Here, they post about different members and what they do within the club. One member’s spotlight talks about his involvement with the gun control caucus, another with the Progressive caucus. Another girl under the spotlight, Kathryn, is an FSU student senate member. In all these posts, the captions praise their involvement with the club and their involvement outside of it as well. Some even lobby at the state level. The students who are featured in these posts are all very active. The pictures are a little all over the place. Some are in graduation caps, some are vacation pictures, some are posing with state representatives. Every post is made with the goal of encouraging being politically active, whether these people plan to enter politics or not.
Another set of posts, on their twitter, is a set of responses to the FCC’s vote on net neutrality. Most of these posts are actually retweets from different accounts, a mix of corporations like Netflix and mostly teens. A tweet posted by Netflix reads, “We’re disappointed in the decision to gut #NetNeutrality protections that ushered in an unprecedented era of innovation, creativity & civic engagement.” The next tweet features a screenshot from the tv show Parks and Recreation, with the caption “saving net neutrality like:” This mix of youthful humor, and the acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation is a theme that reoccurs throughout the pages. They’re passionate about what they write about, but they also never discount the importance of people their age getting involved.
There’s also quite a few posts reminding members that representatives and gubernatorial candidates are coming in to speak. I feel there’s a real importance to this. In my personal interview with him, Nathan Davis, the VP, told me that they’ll often have politicians come in to do Q&As, forums, and panels with students. One was the Women in Politics panel, where women in the Florida political community came in to talk about their experiences. To me, it shows how the College Dems work to play an active role in the political process and make an effort to stay updated and informed.
Activism is of course an extremely important and routinely occurring theme. You’ll see tons of Facebook events encouraging the attendance of different rallies. One is a counter-protest called titled Stand Up to White Supremacy. Another is a set of tweets from the March for Our Lives at the Florida Capitol. The pictures are very pointed, with everyone standing together for one cause. Throughout their pages, the Dems consistently encourage students to participate in rallies like these one. You’re always reminded of the importance of taking action, and College Dems gives students a place where they know they are standing side by side with people they know and who care about the same issues.
Overall, the messages in the College Democrats’ social media pages might seem pretty jumbled, but scrolling through the underlying theme is clear. When looking at their pages, one is always reminded of how important it is to take part in the political process, even now when many are so disillusioned and feel like their voice doesn’t matter. More subtly, one is reminded of the importance of young people taking place in this process as well. From Nathan, “Our best response [to the current political climate] is to organize our peers…” and to push back against divisive politics. From the link to a BuzzFeed quiz titled Which Florida College Democrat Executive Board Member Are You? to the phone banks defending DACA or spreading the word about democratic senators, college students are reminded that they too have a place in the political sphere and their action is both important and necessary.
Analysis of Texts: Connections between Genres on Social Media
The College Democrats have an abundance of texts across their three main social media platforms- Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These texts are different in purpose, genre, form, et cetera, but usually amount to the same overall goal. In this paper, I plan to analyze three different texts from across different social media platforms and discuss how they are similar and how they are different.
One text, from Facebook, is a position paper titled FSU College Democrats Condemn Trump’s Family Separation Policy. The text is composed of several short paragraphs, moving from a discussion on what that “zero tolerance policy” means, to the College Democrat’s reaction, to announcing a protest which was held against the separation of families. The text is different from others in that it is much longer and more formal. One quote which summarizes their argument very well is, “The College Democrats strongly oppose this policy and the gross injustices that have come with its implementation. It will take more than a half-hearted executive order to repair the damage done to those families and restore faith in the hearts of those fleeing persecution that America is a country of immigrants that offers the promise of freedom and liberty.” As shown, their argument is that the separation of families is unjust and an attack on American ideals. It is formed to convince people that the policy is wrong, and to take action against it. The tone is concerned and offended as it denounces the Trump administration’s actions. It is meant to be a call to action, to speak your mind if you think a change needs to be made. Since this is a position paper, the choice to make the diction and structure more formal was very important. Should it have been more casual, in this context the message wouldn’t have come across as well. Someone outside the community probably would not have taken it as seriously. At the end of the paper, its goal is clearly stated: “The FSU College Democrats seek to advocate and educate the student body on the goals and ideals of the Democratic Party.” This goal is prevalent throughout this paper, by informing people on their position on the policy, and throughout the other texts in this paper.
Another text from Twitter functions more as an announcement, to advertise a training event on lobbying representatives. At the top, above the infographic, the caption reads, “Want to lobby your elected representatives but don’t know how?? Fear not, College Dems is here to help!” The font is large and bright blue, as expected of a text meant to be an eye catcher. By doing so, it calls more attention to itself, unlike the small, average font of the first text. The tone is much more excitable and cheerful. The diction is much simpler, and the text is much shorter due to the nature of both the genre and the website Twitter, which only allows for 240 characters per tweet. The purpose of this text is a little different. This event, as opposed to the event advertised in the first text, is not as serious. The text is not as urgent as the first, and not so much of a call for immediate action. The event is more of a tool to use in the long term. The audience of this text and the first text are the same- members of the college democrats, along with any other interested parties. However, this text can get away with less sophisticated language, as its purpose is much simpler. Furthermore, despite their different purposes, this text also amounts to their overall goal. By coming to the event, the College Democrats have an opportunity to educate students further on how to get involved, and how to advocate for their ideals.
Furthermore, one text from Instagram is called the “Dem Spotlight”. This text functions as a way for the College Democrats to highlight some of their more active members’ contributions, as well as encourage others to follow their example. The text, about a member named Kathryn, lists some of the accomplishments she’s made in and out of the organization, such as serving on FSU’s student senate. At the bottom, it reads, “We [heart] Kathryn and couldn’t be more proud of all the incredible work she’s doing here at FSU, as well as across the state.” The main focus of the text this time are pictures, similar to but not exactly like the infographic from Twitter. This text features one image of her at presumably a Democratic party event, one of her on a staircase, and another with a friend. This text is also very informal, like the Twitter text. However, similar to the Facebook text, it’s a bit longer and gives more specific details, albeit for different purposes. The purpose of this text, as stated earlier, is to show members of the College Democrats what they are capable of through example. In this text as well, the overall goal is shown. With the Dem spotlight, students are shown how others have already helped spread the ideals of their party, and encourages them to take steps to make accomplishments in politics themselves.
Overall, these three texts are different in purpose, but similar in plan. Despite advertising different things, different tone, and different lengths, all three show what the College Democrats hope to achieve – advocate for the Democratic party and spread their ideas to their community.
A Research Summary: Is Communication Through Social Media an Effective Means of Activism?
There is an abundance of discourse among researchers throughout the psychology community on the topic of whether social media is an effective means of activism. According to Dr. Pamela Rutledge, researchers disagree over whether social media activism is sustainable because it is based on weak ties. “Strong tie” activism is based on deep, personal connections with a close group, as opposed to “weak tie” activism, which connect a large amount of people across a wide range. Rutledge argues, however, that the “weak” tie is not a descriptor of the connectedness an individual has with the topic of concern. She states, “The intensity and commitment to the connection is independent of the weak/strong descriptor.” Therefore, social media still has the potential to create passionate, committed activists, despite being based on weak ties. Rutledge also goes on to argue that there are four ways that social media is transforming the way society views and participates in activism. The first is that social media increases public awareness. Due to the fast and interconnected nature of social media, problems are given a new sense of urgency. Next, when we receive information via social media, we are usually receiving it from someone we are close to or trust. Therefore, we are more persuaded to take action. Third, social media spreads so quickly that we are able to take immediate individual action. Finally, social media has changed our expectations for participation. According to Rutledge, social media gives us a greater sense that our individual actions matter in the steps toward change. Overall, social media gives us a tool for communication which we can use to bring about social progress.
Argument Summary: Did the College Democrats Achieve Their Goal?
Throughout my research paper, the question came about: “How do the College Democrats achieve their goal of ‘advocating for the ideals of the Democratic party?’” In their 2016 platform, the Democratic party says “[they] believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.” Throughout their social media pages, the College Democrats, to an extent, effectively communicate their goals with the inclusion of many different genres of texts such as position papers, infographics, and personal profiles. In these different texts, tone, length, and purpose shift all depending on the context of each situation they address, which is very important in order to address each situation appropriately. However, in my research, I did come across some discrepancies, and I believe there are some ways they could more effectively communicate between the members who run the social media and the members who use it to get information. Some locations and times were misplaced, missing, or unclear. For example, the location of the protest against the “zero tolerance policy” wasn’t stated in the paper FSU College Democrats Condemn Trump’s Family Separation Policy. Furthermore, the meeting time and place is not listed on their website and is unclear. However, their meeting place was in the former Oglesby Union, so that is the most likely reason for this. I also have not seen anything advertising their meetings which start in the fall. I believe now is as good of a time as any to start encouraging new students to join the organization. Posting informational flyers around campus is a great opportunity for the Dems to spread information about the club in a very accessible manner. Overall, however, the Dems create many opportunities for their members and students on campus to become more involved politically, through meeting, forums, rallies, and so on. Their message is clear to anyone who may come across their social media – they want to create social change through student participation. I see myself fitting in with this community, and after my research, I’m excited to get involved and bring my own ideas which I have developed throughout this paper to the table.
Annotated Bibliography
Cooper, Jorryn, and Nathan Davis. “An Interview with the College Democrats VP.” 4 July 2018.
In the interview, we discussed the basics of what the College Democrats do, their goals, how they carry these goals out, how they get involved with the community, and how they organize themselves. This source relates to my research topic because of course, I need to have an understanding of what the College Democrats are and how they function in order to discuss them. In some ways, it does not relate to my research topic because we didn’t go to in depth about how texts function within the College Democrats in our interview. I had a strong source because I was able to interview the Vice President, someone who has a really good understanding of the organization and has been involved for a while. Ii got more information about the voter registration booths that the College Dems often hold, and more information about the ways they are trying to get more involved in the overall Tallahassee community.
Hanson, Joshua. “FSU College Democrats Condemn Trump's Family Separation Policy.” FSU College Democrats, Facebook, 30 July 2018, www.facebook.com/FSUDems/photos/a.161114213928378.29421.138574719515661/1908661852506930/?type=3&theater.
In this texts, the College Democrats give a brief overview of President Trump’s separation policy, their reaction, and a way people can speak up against it. I chose this particular text because it’s a good example of the way texts function within the Democrats, and the way they use them to help enact change. However, it doesn’t give the entire scope of what the Dems use their social media for. This definitely relates to my first source, because it’s a real life example of how social media is used as a tool to discuss and organize. This source comes directly from the FSU Dems themselves. One potential problem that could arise from this source is that of course it’s a little biased, but that’s a given due to it being from a group organized around being Democrats.
Fullam, Jordan. "Becoming a Youth Activist in the Internet Age: A Case Study on Social Media Activism and Identity Development." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), vol. 30, no. 4, 2017, pp. 406-422, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121044187&site=ehost-live, doi:10.1080/09518398.2016.1250176.
In this article, Fullam explains how social media can aid in mobilizing forces of change. It looks at the case of a student, Justin Rodriguez, and discusses how he used social media to organize a walkout to protest educational budget cuts. The source discusses and argues against the idea that social media is merely a catalyst for social change. They instead argue that it is a tool that allows people to spread their ideas and messages. They also discuss the development of identity around social media activism. This source relates to my research topic because it discusses how social media is used as a tool to mediate and aid in political advocacy and activism, which is often how the College Democrats use their social media pages. Some points of the article do not necessarily fit in with my research however. For one, the student Fullam discusses in the article is a high school student. Also, Fullam discusses how Rodriguez’s identity was shaped before the protest which caused him to be interested in doing it, and how it was shaped while organizing the protest by social media, peers, and adult mentors. One thing I found interesting about this text was the discussion of how social media can shape identity. Another interesting thing was the article’s discussion of how despite social media being a great tool for spreading information and change, it is still very important to have face-to-face bonds with mentors in order to create more “high-risk” activism as opposed to “low risk.”
Gismondi, Adam, and Laura Osteen. "Student Activism in the Technology Age." New Directions for Student Leadership, vol. 2017, no. 153, 2017, pp. 63-74, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=28199062&site=eds-live, doi:10.1002/yd.20230.
In this article, Gismondi and Osteen discuss how student activism is on the rise and is closely linked to the accessibility of social media. This helps me further my understanding of social media and activism because this article looks at different case studies and discusses how the two are correlated. It is similar to my other sources, because it looks at specific circumstances and discusses each of those. However, this isn’t exactly related to my paper because I’m taking a bit of a more broad approach. An interesting bit at the end of the article gives the reader a method of understanding and accepting the workings of social media activism.
Nolan L., Cabrera, Matias Cheryl E., and Montoya Roberto. "Activism Or Slacktivism? the Potential and Pitfalls of Social Media in Contemporary Student Activism." Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, no. 4, 2017, pp. 400, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsovi&AN=edsovi.01369758.201712000.00007&site=eds-live, doi:10.1037/dhe0000061.
This article discusses the potential pitfalls of using social media for political messages rather than them being face to face, slacktivism being “political ineffectiveness.” This article is different than my other ones, and a good resource for my paper because it examines the other side of the argument. It’s not all for social media activism and also is not completely quantitative. The source makes sure to address both sides, which I believe is a strength. Looking at the argument from a different side made me examine things closer.
Velasquez, Alcides, and Robert LaRose. "Social Media for Social Change: Social Media Political Efficacy and Activism in Student Activist Groups." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 59, no. 3, 2015, pp. 456-474, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=108866865&site=ehost-live, doi:10.1080/08838151.2015.1054998.
In this article, Velasquez and LaRose discuss how social media may be shifting the way political actions are organized. They conduct studies, locating where people were in the country for the protest, and examined the difference between social media, positive experiences, and political efficacy. This source examines the positive relationship between social media and activism, finding that there was a positive relationship between social media use and political efficacy. This source is a little different from my other sources because it is much less personal and more data based, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I thought the discussion of how motivations can have an effect on positive/negative experience was interesting.
Yan, Grace, Ann Pegoraro, and Nicholas M. Watanabe. "Student-Athletes' Organization of Activism at the University of Missouri: Resource Mobilization on Twitter." Journal of Sport Management, vol. 32, no. 1, 2018, pp. 24-37, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=128193043&site=eds-live.
In this article, Yan, Pegoraro, and Watanabe discuss an protest called “ConcernedStudent1950” among student athletes which gained some ground even outside of their state. They discuss how social media gives an extremely accessible and open communication platform, allowing for the fast exchange of ideas. Again, this source isn’t exactly related to my paper because it looks at a very specific circumstance, but that also allows me to have a greater understanding of how social media is used. It is like my other source in that it has a lot of quantitative data. A really interesting part of this article were how they gave a visual representation of where different students were located.
Works Cited
Cooper, Jorryn, and Nathan Davis. “An Interview with the College Democrats VP.” 4 July 2018.
Cooper, Jorryn. “An Interview with Brian Gonzalez.” 17 July 2018.
College Democrats. “Dem Spotlight.” Instagram, FSU College Dems, 5 Feb. 2018, www.instagram.com/p/Be0wfOGniqa/?taken-by=fsudems.
College Democrats. “FSU College Democrats Lobby Day Training.” Twitter, FSU College Dems, 29 Jan. 2018, twitter.com/FSUDems/status/957769912998596609.
Fullam, Jordan. "Becoming a Youth Activist in the Internet Age: A Case Study on Social Media Activism and Identity Development." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), vol. 30, no. 4, 2017, pp. 406-422, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121044187&site=ehost-live, doi:10.1080/09518398.2016.1250176.
Gismondi, Adam, and Laura Osteen. "Student Activism in the Technology Age." New Directions for Student Leadership, vol. 2017, no. 153, 2017, pp. 63-74, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=28199062&site=eds-live, doi:10.1002/yd.20230.
Hanson, Joshua. “FSU College Democrats Condemn Trump's Family Separation Policy.” FSU College Democrats, Facebook, 30 July 2018, www.facebook.com/FSUDems/photos/a.161114213928378.29421.138574719515661/1908661852506930/?type=3&theater.
Nolan L., Cabrera, Matias Cheryl E., and Montoya Roberto. "Activism Or Slacktivism? the Potential and Pitfalls of Social Media in Contemporary Student Activism." Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, no. 4, 2017, pp. 400, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsovi&AN=edsovi.01369758.201712000.00007&site=eds-live, doi:10.1037/dhe0000061.
“Our Platform.” Democrats.org, Democratic National Convention, www.democrats.org/party-platform.
Rutledge, Pamela B. “Four Ways Social Media Is Redefining Activism.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-media/201010/four-ways-social-media-is-redefining-activism.
Velasquez, Alcides, and Robert LaRose. "Social Media for Social Change: Social Media Political Efficacy and Activism in Student Activist Groups." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 59, no. 3, 2015, pp. 456-474, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=108866865&site=ehost-live, doi:10.1080/08838151.2015.1054998.
Yan, Grace, Ann Pegoraro, and Nicholas M. Watanabe. "Student-Athletes' Organization of Activism at the University of Missouri: Resource Mobilization on Twitter." Journal of Sport Management, vol. 32, no. 1, 2018, pp. 24-37, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=128193043&site=eds-live.