Race and the Digital: Racial Formation and 21st Century TechnologiesMain Menu"From Tweets to Streets?" A Research Project with Digital Supplement"The Digital Divide" Research ProjectsRace and the Digital BlogIntersectionality and TaggingCourse SyllabusSyllabus for Race and the Digital at UCLAStatement of Values: Digital Ethnic StudiesContributors' PortfoliosAbout "Race and the Digital"Genevieve Carpiocbaef6f4fe1847cc774ee8ef5c2d6efb0a58fda3Kid Cometb62a4423d252f961609f416b7188ffbc7d84a7d3Yesenia Melgoza-Fernandeza6a8d8933b14c7be3a522d5102f92c9dfe52e9b2Michie Ortiz25daabac1577ec1d12a68b2c0b0a15c4dba1374bEduardo D. Garcia6e60d0784abf2b990f3510cceb60101259a8bdd3Alan Evangelistaf3e41e7c002a037bb13d71a1e837eb5bf5bef12fAna Victoria H.37ae5307effd9bccccea4f0fe7958d15cee30e07Arturo Sotelo38025c1bb15e36f2beff44b22df47fac513c339faade8e08161ecdfbe4206b74479dee1c1d007a58c4Ashley Martinez-Munoza5a71a08c4c1c5dc7904ffcbc148c4f2edb1e723Ebony Paramodca8ce0b7a38097adb1b511e4c75690f833171f0
Bernie Sanders is a Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States in 2016. He is a senator from Vermont and believes that America is ready to start a political revolution-a revolution with a goal to get people interested into politics and fight back to make the United States democratic again, which he has in fact done.
The Impact of Social Media:
New media has played a critical role in this campaign, without this aspect this movement wouldn't have the momentum it does. The Sanders for President movement relies heavily on social media to send their message and gather support. Through social media, people are able to communicate quickly and have an easier time organizing events or rallies.
To further analyze this movement, the digital divide must be mentioned. The digital divide is a gap that exists and determines who has access to the internet. Based on every article, discussion, and guest lecturer, the digital divide is a stark reality that revolves around ethnic groups, low income families, and education. And these groups tend to use the internet for certain purposes, such as for social media. But another group that uses the internet extensively is the youth. The youth are the ones who make things go viral- context that is rapidly circulated around the web.
As a result, people of color and the youth are at the forefront of the Bernie Sanders movement. The reason minorities and youth are embracing Sanders with open arms is because he is fighting for their issues and is going against the government that is oppressing so many in the United States of America. However, the media believes that Bernie Sanders is only endorsed by white males. People, to prove this association is wrong, have thus relied on social media to share their voice and show how Sanders is endorsed by a diverse group.
On popular websites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, people tend to share their distress at the way Bernie is portrayed in the media and reasons as to why he is the perfect candidate to be President of The United States of America.