Emma's Final Paper

Updating the Lyrics
Emma Rippe

This picture is showing that the our music does impact our society

"I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music," Billy Joel states. His idea that music affects everyone is true; our society's problems and issues in media are given a voice through music. Not only does it affect our music but also the way music is listened to and how it is published through music industries and the technology advancing through time. Technology and media today affects our music industry today because as we go through time this concept is evolving, from buying CDs to illegally downloading music and having applications for devices to support the music you listen to. Not only is the music industry developing but the music itself is developing too, the way it is written based on how we as a society is effected by media, and also the way we create music, becoming more "techno." Our technology and media has been impacting the way our music is listened to and interpreted.

                As technology advances the devices we use to listen to music consistently change. 10 years ago we were listening to music on CDs and cassette tapes, and now we can fit thousands of CDs all into one small device that we carry in our pockets. Starting from just having a small box that is physically winded it up to create sound also called a phonautograph. Then we moved into juke boxes, this all led up to society having devices that can hold thousands of songs, not only songs, but even applications, cameras, video cameras, phone, alarms… etc.

This show that technology of devices have advanced through the years

Our technology has advanced so much in less than a decade. This sort of evolution is amazing because it gives us, the community, new music that we can explore like unknown artists that may not be main stream. It gives a person more variety in their music, to open up and expand music taste. The advancement of technology has its negatives and positives. For example a negative is that it creates new ways to obtain free music and rip off artists and also the new technology is closing down music stores rapidly. According to the New York Times article from 2008, written by Ben Sisario, “Some 3,100 record stores around the country have closed since 2003, according to the Almighty Institute of Music Retail, a market research firm.” Therefore showing in the span of 6 years our technology closed over 3,100 record stores. These stores have been closing because there has been no reason for them to stay open when all music can be purchased cheaper online or on a device. Technology is also forcing CDs to disappear over time because of the advancement in music technology. A positive with technology advancing is that it gives unknown artists a chance to get their music in the industry or to more audience. 2 decades ago we didn’t have YouTube or iTunes, but they did have gigs to play at and places to talk to try to get their music out there. In our generation it is much easier to show the talent through social media and the internet. This also leads to giving society an expansion in the different type of artists and songs we can listen to. There are positives and negatives to the advancement in music technology, but as we continue moving on through the years we don’t know what to expect of the way we will be listening to music or even the type of music we will be listening to, our society could be affected positively or negatively in the evolution of our music. 

This shows that sites like iTunes and converters are taking CDs and records away 

Even though the evolution of music is beneficial for us, it's detrimental to artists producing the music, music industries, and record labels. Now that we get music online rather than in a store it's easy to find free downloaders for music, therefore not giving all the profit to the artist, but cheating them by getting it for free. In fact according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), every year there is a $4.2 billion loses in the music industry worldwide. Not just the music industry loses money, but the artists themselves lose the money they are trying to earn, especially small artists that are trying to make a living. Especially in the generation now, the norm to getting music is to get it for free online, and if you buy the music it’s considered to be a waste of money. Even when the album or song is on sale on iTunes or Amazon, consumers still look at the price as too much, since we have the idea that it is easier and free to get it online. Now days our consumers have developed the idea that free music is okay, and don’t look at the impact it is having on the artists or music industry. On the internet today there are tons of different free downloaders, an example of a free downloader used today is the YouTube Converter which is a website that takes YouTube videos and converts them into your iTunes library. This taking away a lot of money from the music industry and the artist’s themselves. This is good for consumers like us, because when we hear free, it means it’s better, easier, and cheaper, therefore more useful not thinking about the cause of free music. Producers get affected by having music not being purchased; it takes away a huge amount of money from them including the artist. There are still ways that artists are making money from their music, which are applications and websites like Spotify and Pandora.

This shows we are now using the apps on phones to listen to our music

                  Even as music develops so does the technology of phones, more apps are created every day for laptops and phones. Some examples of free music applications that have developed over the past 10 years are iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and even YouTube. These applications/websites for music listening have been created to make it so one can access an “unlimited” amount of music. iTunes is a website/application that makes it so there is an unlimited selection of music to buy from to create a library of music that can be used during anytime on most devices like iPods, iPads, smart phones, laptops…etc. Even though apps like Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody seem unlimited, the artist is still making money for each time the track is played. Unlike Spotify, which the application/website describes itself as, “Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs.” This music application makes it so that you have access to a lot of music for no money but need Wi-Fi for it to work with advertisement in the songs and application/website. To get the application on a smart phone device, you pay for the app to be able to access all songs on the application and also it gets rid of the ads on the application. The website Pandora is described on its site as, “Pandora is free personalized internet radio.  Simply enter a favorite artist, track, comedian or genre, and Pandora will create a personalized station that plays their music and more like it. Rate songs by giving thumbs-up and thumbs-down feedback and add variety to further refine your stations, discover new music and help Pandora play only music you love.” Which is a different website/application than Spotify and iTunes, where it creates stations for you based on how you personalize it, meaning it isn’t a “chose a song” kind of website; it’s like a typical radio station but, personalized for yourself. All these different applications and websites have created a new world of music listening, making it easier to get music but all in different ways.

This is describing how YouTube can create fame

                  Even though all those applications and websites are there, there is a website that really stands out compared to a lot of others, which is YouTube. This is a website where anyone can post videos, and it is also where a lot of music videos are produced. YouTube isn’t just videos like comedians or short videos, but also is the community of society expressing their talents like singing. YouTube is a website that also stands out compared to the rest of them because it’s a place to find new musicians that may have never been discover. For example, most people know who Justin Bieber is, the young boy who became famous from his YouTube channel (KidRauhl) and his talent of singing.  He went from being a regular boy to being a big pop star known world wide, and even one of his songs, “Baby,” got 2 billion hits on YouTube this past year. YouTube is what I would like to call a “place of discovery,” like discovering new, talented, unknown artists that didn’t have a chance before. There are many stars like Justin Bieber who have become famous through YouTube, and are now published musicians like, Carly Rae Jepsen (YouTube Video: Call Me Maybe 500 million views), Ok Go (YouTube Channel: OkGo), and Psy (YouTube Video: Gangnam Style reaching on 2 billion views). These are some examples of YouTube fame and how many views they get from the public. YouTube is also connected with Vevo, which is its own site as well, but publishes music videos. These websites have become a phenomenon in our generation because it gives us a place to discover an unlimited amount of music and videos. Therefore improving the development of our music that society has been shaping.

This is showing the development from acoustics to DJs

                  It’s not just the way we listen to music that is developing, but what is produced is developing too. Our generation now is a lot of electronic music, like dubstep, ambient, break beat, drum and bass, house music, trap, and techno. These types of music is all being electronically processed through a computer or produced through a computer focusing on using bass, synthesizers, and mashing up music (remixes). This kind of music only creates different variations of an original song or it is a bunch of beats produced in different ways to create a catchy rhythm. Now a day our generation has created a type of music that gets us on our feet to jump up and down to. Our generation then doesn’t realize true and original music, since music is now remixes or hidden by large bass drops. For example, our generation of music is losing their originality and working off other songs that have already been produced. “Stronger” by Kanye West, released on the album, Graduation, in 2007, was developed from Daft Punk’s song, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” released as a single in 2001. Our generation is now using old music to create new music but with bass or rap to create a new song, showing that we are losing originality in what we are making for music. It also creates a way for artists to hide behind through electronics making unnaturally made/altered music. This is changing how we see artists and natural talent.

This showing gay rights

                  Throughout many generations of music, a lot of lyrics have been made to show emotions, tell a story, or express an opinion. Music is so powerful and can affect the audience’s opinion on what is happening in society now. A strong demonstration of how a song expresses an opinion about what’s going on in the world is, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s featuring Mary Lambert song, “Same Love,” on the album The Heist, which came out in 2012. This song is about same sex marriage and equality, and how there is so much discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, describing how our society is structured to believe that it isn’t normal to be gay. It gives a different incite on how our society judges others. Macklemore gives his opinion through rap about how he feels on this controversy going on today. The fact that Macklemore raps about gay rights really stands out, because most rap is about other problems that go on. There has never been a rap that has gone viral through radios about the topic/controversy of gay rights. This song hit top charts, almost all pop radio stations and was nominated for the 56^th Grammy’s Award, “Song of The Year,” and sold almost 2 million copies in September of 2013 in the United States. The music video on YouTube got over 100 million views to this day. Some of the lyrics like, “When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless rather than fighting for human that had their rights stolen I might not be the same, but that’s not important no freedom till we’re equal, damn right I support it.” These lyrics are rapped by Macklemore in the song, and it’s just an example of how his lyrics state his opinion on the controversy of gay rights. It shows how much our community listens to music and how many people listen to an opinion on a huge controversy in our world right now. It shows how powerful media can be to just deliver one statement by an artist.

This is just showing that he's involved in music and not the outside world

                  Overall the generations of music have been evolving through technology, production, what we are listening to, how it impacts us, they have all been developing as we move on through the years. There are years ahead to experience more change and evolution, we are not sure what expect, everything could change in less than a decade at this rate in how society is creating its self. We went through listening to one song through a physically turning a machine to pressing a button and listening to thousands of songs. Then we went through all sorts of controversies being expressed through generations of music, to our music stores closing through the advancement in the technology we have. We are experiencing negative and positive adaptions as we and our music evolves.

DREAMWEAVER: Your Final Paper Web Site: Due on Wednesday, April 16

 Create a THREE page web site in Dreamweaver that features:

1. Your Paper
2. Your Bibliography
3. Your Biography

 You will present this in class for a final grade.

Zaire Peoples - Final Paper

Sexual Violence and Objectification of Women in Advertisements

Cartoon that depicts the lack of correlation between sex /objectification
of women  and certain products that are advertised.
Original Cartoon.

Since our 21^st century shift from an analog world to a digital world, advertising agencies have negatively portrayed the subordination and abuse of women in the Western world all the while satisfying the male species. Many advertisements,whether they relate to fashion, food or cigarettes, have used sexual abuse and manipulation of women to market their products. While one would assume that over time corporate insensitivities towards these issues would diminish, this has not happened. Provocative advertisements such as the infamous 2007 Dolce and Gabbana advertisement which glorified “gang-rape” have caused uproars around the world. Advertisements like these make it seem okay to objectify women because it is “classy” or “in-trend”. Perhaps what seems even more ridiculous is the fact that these advertisements have little if any correlation to the product or service that is being advertised. Do advertisers only value its male consumers and their opinions or do they believe that women will be equally swayed by these insensitive depictions of sexual violence and brutality?  

Van Heusen Ties and Tipalet cigars advertisements shown side by side
with words that describe the images in the middle. 

The only difference between advertisements that objectify women today and the previous decades is the approach. While in today’s society, one has to look beyond the expensive handbags and attractive men, during the 1940’s, for example, the message was more clear. During this time period, women were expected to be subordinate and were merely used as child-bearing instruments rather than human beings. Due to these views, companies like Van Heusen released advertisements that belittled women. In its infamous tie advertisement, a women can be seen kneeling down next to her husband’s bed as she serves him breakfast. While this may seem shocking enough, the worst part of the advertisement is the caption. In bold letters above the image, the words “show her it’s a man’s world” are displayed. Van Heusen’s advertisement along with other advertisements such as that of Tipalet cigar ad whose caption reads “Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere” shows that sexual violence and the objectification of women is not a recent development. Rather, this has been going on for decades (Suggett, “Vintage Ads From America”)

The infamous 2010 Calvin Klein advertisement that depicts a women being gang-raped.
The words " No More" are written to show that women and men need to take a stance against this.

    Just when we thought advertising agencies couldn't become more provocative, there was an explosion of sexually charged ads in the following decades. As mentioned before, advertising agencies have the ability to make you focus less on the behavior that is portrayed in the image and more on the sexual appeal and clothing (if there is any at all). A less direct approach can be seen in the 2010 Calvin Klein advertisement in which a woman is surrounded by men. The photograph is suggestive of sexual violence or rape. While captions like “it’s a man’s world” does not need to be printed, the same message is emphasized whether in big, bold text or not (Nudd, “Calvin Klein Ads Banned For Promoting Rape”).

Founders of Dolce and Gabanna are shown with their "defense statement"
in response to their controversial advertisement that glorified gang rape. 

In 2007, fashion house Dolce and Gabbana released an advertisement that immediately caused citizens in various countries to turn their heads. This advertisement glorified gang rape as a woman appeared to be held down by a man as other men looked on. After protests in Spain, the advertisement was eventually pulled and other regions would soon follow. However, in defense of their racy marketing strategy, the fashion power-house accused Spain of being “a bit behind times” rather than apologizing for its insensitive marketing (Dowsett, “Spain Behind the Times on Ads says Dolce & Gabbana”). Because this event sparked so much controversy, one would assume that other fashion companies would also learn from this and try to better their sexually charged advertisements. Calvin Klein would release a similar advertisement three years later that sparked just as much controversy. Similar to Spain’s Labour and Social Affairs Ministry’s opposition to the Dolce and Gabbana advertisement, the Australian Advertising StandardsBureau was one of the first groups to demand that the advertisement be pulled (White, “Calvin Klein Ads Featuring Lara Stone Ordered to Be Taken Down in Australia”).

A brutal advertisment in which two women are depicted as
animals and inferior. A quote by Ellen Hopkins is written on the walls to emphasis
that the individual is still important. 

          Of course, these advertisements would not come without negative impact. Not only are advertisements that portray women as sexual animals and objects to men damaging to girls and women but also young boys and men. As women see advertisements like these all around the world and in almost every form of media imaginable, they will begin to see themselves through this lens. Women and young girls especially will start believing that this is what is expected of them and that they are invaluable. Likewise, men will also think that this kind of behavior is acceptable, bearing little consequence. Young boys alike will began to “support male dominance [which in turn] generates rape-supportive attitudes…” (“Sexual Violence in the Media: Indirect Effects on Aggression Against Women”). In the end, these types of advertisements represent a "lose-lose" situation for both women and men.

The 2007 controversial Dolce and Gabbana ad can be seen in
black and white. 

As noted earlier, a few groups in the past have protested advertisements that glorify the objectification and sexual violence of women. Spain’s Labour and Social Affairs Ministry and Australia’s Advertising Standards Bureau stand as leaders against this fight. In addition to these state run groups, individuals such as American activist John Stoltenberg believe that men should be more involved in this opposition. On the website, Genderads.com, Scott Lukas explores a variety of issues related to gender in society. On his page, “Sexual Violence”, he states that American activist John Stoltenberg believed that men should take initiative by “work[ing] to not have their sexuality manipulated by the pornography industry, drugs or alcohol”. When men began to take a stance against the way they are perceived in the media – as sexual predators – then perhaps women will no longer be seen as prey (Lukas, genderads.com)

Altered photograph of a women who was originally depicted as battered.
She has flaws on her skin to represent the average person. However, she
still represents beauty.

 Do media act as a collective scapegoat? Do insensitive advertisements like the Dolce and Gabbana’s glorify sexual violence to the point where both women and men believe that it is acceptable? Media in Society by Richard Campbell and Joli Jensen argues that when media is used as a scapegoat, there is no solution given but rather “it leads to a dead end” (Campbell, Jensen 19). We can not continue to blame the media as there are other factors that should be accounted for. Our decisions and upbringings as individuals also shape the way we perceive others. However, for the naïve young boys and girls who are exposed to these advertisements, the illusions that all women enjoy forceful sexual activity and that sexual violence bears little consequence are given. Children and adults need to understand that poor representation of women is not okay and this is most certainly not how it is 'supposed to be'. 

A collage of just a few companies who have used the sexual violence
and manipulation of women to sell their product or service. 

In closing, advertisements are becoming more and more provocative and inappropriate towards women. Industries like fashion, food and cigarettes fail to realize the negative effects of their advertisements on the public. Not only does it make women seem subordinate and invaluable it also causes young boys and men to believe that this kind of behavior is acceptable. Our 21^st century digital world has normalized a dangerous idea. Many of the advertisements today seem to suggest that we are moving backwards, as representation of women put them in a subordinate state. Advertisements that promote Tipalet cigars and Calvin Klein also prove this point. Unfortunately, this situation is not getting better as a plethora of advertising agencies under major companies like Peta, Ford, and American Apparel have also jumped on board (Lukas, genderads.com). Only through challenging the negative representation of women in society will we move forward.

Bibliography

Campbell, Richard, Joli Jensen, Douglas Gomery, Bettina Fabos, and Julie D. Frechette. "Understanding Media in Society." Introduction. Media in Society. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. N. pag. Print.

Dowsett, Sonya. "Spain behind the times on Ads Says Dolce & Gabbana." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 23 Feb. 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Lukas, Scott. "The Gender Ads Project." Sexual Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Malamuth, Neil M., and John Briere. "Sexual Violence in the Media: Indirect Effects on Aggression Against Women." Journal of Social Issues 42.3 (1986): 76-91. Journal of Social Issues. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Nudd, Tim. "Calvin Klein Ads Banned for Promoting Rape | Adweek." AdWeek. Adweek.com, 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Suggett, Paul. "Vintage Ads From America." About.com Advertising. About.com, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

White, Belinda. "Calvin Klein Ads Featuring Lara Stone Ordered to Be Taken down in Australia." - Telegraph. N.p., 22 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Final Research Paper - Jacqui

U.S. Citizens Have the Power:
Social Media’s Affect on Voting Citizens

"Four more years" President Barack Obama tweeted after his close-call win in the 2012 Presidential Election against Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. In U.S. society today, we Americans turn to social media for our sources of information. Even adults are easily influenced by how things are worded or presented. Since the 2008 Presidential Election, media have grown and changed, influencing U.S. voters choices and selections. The introduction of social media in the early 21st century transformed the way that U.S. voting citizens get their news. This started a personal shift in how people send and receive their information. Social media influenced the result of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election by providing different outlets of information for the voting citizens to access and share.

Both candidates well represented on social media. 

2008 Election

It is not news that political campaigns changed due to the 2008 Presidential Election between Obama and McCain. President Obama successfully used the new media to support his campaign for social change. The Obama campaign mission, “involvement through empowerment,” (Aaker and Smith, 34) and they used social media to enhance their mission. By using social media, the Obama campaign gave voters a sense of purpose and got young voters to get involved with the campaign. This made the voting class feel like they had a say in the campaign through their involvement on social media. John McCain’s campaign did not use social media nearly as much as Obama’s campaign did. If the Internet did not exist, many think that Obama would not be president. “Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the [Democratic] nominee,” (Aaker and Smith, 46) Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-chief at the Huffington Post. According to “political scientist Harold Lasswell,” there are three major societal functions that social media plays for the younger citizens, “surveillance of the world to report on going events, interpretation of the meaning of events, and socialization of individuals into their cultural settings,” (Graber, 5). From this, social media plays an important role in the lives of young voters.



Internet is the reason that Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election.

18 – 30 Year Old Voters

          For today’s young citizens social media is their source of information. When you have a candidate that “owns” the mainstream of social media, it is hard for any other candidate to try to move into the social media world. Obama “owned” the mainstream of media before the 2012 Presidential Election. The problem with social media being the source of information for the younger voting citizens is there is a limited amount of information given and it limits the amount of key information obtained. Obama, having many years more social media campaigning experience than Romney, automatically swayed social media towards the Democratic Party. According to the Tufts University Circle Fact Sheet, Obama had a following of young voters 60% to 37% over Mitt Romney, lower than his margin in the 2008 Election where he represented 66% over McCain's 32%. The Republican Party used social media more in the 2012 Election than they did in the 2008 Election.

The importance of social media to the Presidential campaign between the two parties. 

31 – 50 Year Old Voters

       Though Obama won over the younger voting crowd, he lost the older votes in several states to Romney. According to a survey taken in 2010 by PewResearch 50% of 30-50 year old voters are on social media whereas 75% of the younger voters are on social media. The older voters use social media to connect with old friends and a way to watch videos. Many claim to use social media to catch up with things going on in the world. Though Romney won many of this age groups vote, Obama’s impressive YouTube campaign intrigued this generation. The younger voters do not have the patience to sit watch a video message that the older generations found helpful and informative. Obama used YouTube and advertisement messages to get to a wider audience and had the most successful YouTube campaign in history.

Social media hashtags used to track the Obama-Biden and Romney-Ryan campaigns. 

51+ Year Old Voters

          There are only about 36% of 51+ year olds on social media according to the 2010 survey conducted by PewResearch. Social media is not their main source to information like it is for the younger generations. Campaigns still need to use the older forms of Media to reach the older crowds. These generations of voters use newspapers and the internet as their medium to political information. Romney used more of these techniques over social media. It shows in the age of people who voted for him, winning the 45+ voters in most states. Each candidate tried to relate to all the different age groups. In Media in Society, it mentions how the media today offers more than ever before. Trying to sell to a particular group is harder than ever because there are smaller more specific groups of people. A political campaign is like selling a product, trying to get a person to select your brand. The campaigns had the hardest time with selling their brand to the older voting citizens because the available outlets to this group are much more limited.

The Wall Street Journal the day after the 2012 Presidential Election.

2012 Republican Campaign

          The Romney-Ryan campaign decided to hold back on its campaigning until the final few months because, “they believed most Americans, including the bulk of undecided or persuadable voters, would only being paying concerted attention to the campaign in the final few months,” (Ceaser, Busch and Pitney, 98).  This worked for their campaign of mass media but when it came to social media, the key is to start early and gain followers and supporters.  The Romney-Ryan campaign started too late and as a result lost the needed support of the younger voters by not having a strong social media presence.  The lack of younger voters shows in the poles.  Though comparing the 2008 and 2012 Election, the Romney-Ryan campaign was much more successful than the McCain-Palin campaign on social media. 

The Romney-Ryan campaign started a social media campaign too late.

2012 Democratic Campaign

          The Obama-Biden campaign stride to give the power and voice back to the people. They gave the power back by providing the people with a way to use their voice and found the perfect platform for the citizens in social media. Social media presented a way for U.S. voting citizens to express their needs and concerns directly to the Obama-Biden campaign. They focused on “inspiring mass involvement or winning people’s time result[ing] in winning people’s time, money and votes,” (Aaker and Smith, 44). Using texting and email to contact them, the Obama-Biden campaign became personal with their followers. Their overwhelming presence on social media sights made sure that their followers knew Obama would be there, always. This gave people a sense of comfort along with a sense of belonging because the Obama-Biden campaign made them feel they were a part of something bigger.

Obama's social media presence over competitors.  

Why Obama Was Successful

        “Barack Obama launched the most sophisticated “new Media” campaign in history and won.” (Graber, 194) The Democratic Party learned quickly early on social media are the easiest and cheapest way to get the name of their nominee out there. The Republican Party learned too late how important social media are in influencing the younger generation of voters. Though social media limits the amount of important information that voters see, it has become one of the most prominent outlets for information. Now that the political parties see what works in attracting votes through social media, political campaigns will forever be changed.

President Obama won the election using social media. 

Works Cited

Aaker, Jennifer, Andy Smith, and Carlye Adler. "Yes we can! how Obama Won with Social Media." The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways to use Social Media to Drive Social Change. First ed. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2010. 34-34-47.

Campbell, Richard, et al. "Political Stories and Media Messages." Media in Society. Ed. Jesse Hassenger, et al. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 103-103-131.

Ceaser, James W., Andrew E. Busch, and John J. Pitney JR. After Hope and Change: The 2012 Elections and American Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2013.

Graber, Doris A. Mass Media and American Politics / Doris A. Graber. Washington, DC : CQ PRess, 2009; 8th ed, 2009. . EBSCO. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat01985a&AN=SMC.336340&site=eds-live&scope=site>.

Jashinsky, Lauryn. the Affect of Social Media on the 2012 Presidential Election., 2012.

"Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change." PewResearch. February 24, 2010 2010. March 17, 2014 .

Obama, Barack. "BarackObama.com." 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom>.

---. "Facebook: Barack Obama." 2014. <https://www.facebook.com/barackobama>.

---. "Twitter: Barack Obama." 2014. <https://twitter.com/BarackObama>.

Romney, Mitt. "Facebook: Mitt Romney." 2014. <https://www.facebook.com/mittromney>.

---. "Twitter: Mitt Romney." 2014. <https://twitter.com/MittRomney>.

Staff, Circle. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement Fact Sheet. Medford, Ma: Tufts University, 2013.

Stallings, Susan. "Ron Paul, young voters, and the unfettered power of social media." November 2, 2012 2012. March 17, 2014 <http://www.examiner.com/article/ron-paul-young-voters-and-the-unfettered-power-of-social-media>.