COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thanks to technology the world is more connected now than ever before, and social media makes it easy to communicate with people near and far from the palm of your hand.

What You Need To Know

  • No social media platform is immune from political posts and messaging

  • Every age and demographic can be influenced by social media 

  • Remember, there’s a human being behind most comments and posts

As campaigning heats up ahead of the November election, more political posts are popping up on the platforms.

“When it first started, it was seen as countercultural,” said Derrick Green, Cedarville University Department of Communication chair. “It wasn’t respected as a mainstream form of media and in many cases wasn’t even seen as being credible.”

But now he said that’s all changed.

“We are more likely to trust things from people that we know, but research indicates that we are likely to trust things via the internet in general,” Green said.

It makes the sites a perfect place for political hopefuls to grow support.

“Politicians now can control their own narrative, and they can present that narrative unfiltered,” Green said. “For better or for worse, they can present that message unfiltered to their constituents and their potential voters.”

He said former Democratic President Barack Obama was the first Twitter, now called X, candidate because of his use of the platform during campaigning. But Green said it’s a Republican candidate turned president turned candidate again, Donald Trump, who showed everyone the power of direct communication with constituents with his “Make America Great Again” campaign.

“The objective fact is that he took that campaign slogan and maximized the use of social media,” Green said. “And we’re still talking about it. We’re still talking about it today because of his ability to use social media.”

Green said every age group and demographic can be influenced by social media, so don’t believe everything you see.

“There’s an old saying that I certainly grew up with for decades, which is no longer true: ‘A picture is worth a thousand words. If you see it, see it and believe it,’” he said. “Well, we live in an age where that’s not the case.”

He said a quick Google search can often help shine a light on what’s true or false. He said if a friend or family member passes along a post you find out isn’t 100% accurate, understand it came from a place of love.

“Rather than coming back at them with a sledgehammer and saying, ‘Stop sending me these ridiculous things that aren’t true,’ many times they're looking out for us,” he said. “And we want to reciprocate that back by having the conversation with them.”

He said you don’t have to agree, but listen to what they have to say.

“Whatever I feel about what you say is not going to influence how I feel about you as a human being,” Green said.

Green encourages everyone to prioritize people before views and likes.