The 58th Presidential election has been the most hashtagged, posted, and popularized elections that I've ever seen, not that I’ve seen many. I would never expect a video of Bill Clinton on The Breakfast Club to go viral on Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook during his campaigning season, but that's because these platforms didn't exist in the early 90s. There wasn’t much social media attention placed on Obama in 2008 or 2012 either, for that matter.
Since June of last year, when Hillary, Trump, & Bernie were all officially running for POTUS, I have been asked numerous times who I'm interested in voting for. And numerous times, I responded confident that I would not vote for Trump, but other than that, I wasn’t sure if I was feeling the Bern *insert 3 fire emojis* or if I was identifying with Hillary either. I also informed many friends that Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, & Bernie Sanders were not the only candidates. At some point, there were 17 Republican candidates (Trump is the only one left) and 6 Democrats. There are too many independent candidates to count, but I strongly suggest doing your research to understand the different parties better.
I make that suggestion because the Hispanic and black vote is distancing further from the GOP candidate and most Republicans are as well – seeing as there is only one option left, and how beautifully orange he is. The independent vote is growing more and more critical to understand. Something worth knowing is that there are only a number of qualified parties on ballots per state, and most states only allow 2-4. The GOP & Democratic Party are already 2, so independent options are obviously limited. The Libertarian party anticipates being the 3rd party on all 50 states’ ballot this year. So, those of you posting about only having two options, stop.
For months, I admitted that I hadn't had time to watch the debates, listen to the interviews, and read the updates. Quickly, I found out that most of my peers had not either. Like me, they were heavily relying on mainstream social media posts, memes, and viral videos for information. But unlike me, they were comfortable allowing those posts about the future of this country to frame their political views. Are you serious? Your explore page on Instagram should not be your source of news by any means.
So many of my friends decided their vote in the primary election and their potential vote in the Presidential election already - based off of memes dictating that Hillary Clinton would keep your class after the bell and Bernie Sanders would let your class go. Come on...
I even had to explain to a few people what independent parties were. I've had to explain that Libertarians were liberal and not conservative. I've had to explain that Democrats and Republicans are actually left and right wing, respectively. I feel like no one took U.S. Government in High School, or at least no one paid attention.
It doesn't make me sick how far Donald Trump has gotten in this race. It makes me sick that so many people only know of the issues he discusses and ridiculous things he says because of social media. It makes me sick that people don't even know what the voting process entails in this country. I am, by no means, an expert, but I am, by no means, content with relying on memes.
Why did so many people have problems voting in the primary race? Because this is the first time so many of them have even cared to register. So many people on my Facebook news feed were asking each other how to register. I couldn't believe it.
I wanted to spend this article breaking down the steps for everyone, but there are valuable sources of information we all need to utilize…including the candidates’ websites. I am astonished by how many people have never visited a candidate’s website (if you are one, feel free to stop reading and go do that). I held myself accountable for not paying as much attention as I should have and I have been trying to catch up as fast as I can. I hope that my peers do the same – well before November 8th.
I want to make one last point here, and it’s extremely important. The social media posts don't exactly align with the results of the primary election; Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton is leading, despite vast viral posts insinuating the opposite. So I plead that everyone reevaluate their perceived reliable sources of information. Obviously, there is a plethora of voters who get their more meaningful information from somewhere else. And to them, the memes are most probably ridiculous.
Your vote does count, so please educate yourself and make the right choice. Not the popular choice. All viral posts run their course in a week or so but this time, it's going to last four years.
