The Midterm Elections recently finished and an article that sort of spiked some interest for me was titled, “midterm elections 2018: Do Celebrities Really Influence Voters?” by Taylor-Dior Rumble, and Ian Youngs. Im fascinated by the media. I love movies, television, social media platforms and music. I love looking into when/how/why these things impact the societal psyche. Yes, Government and Politics impact this stuff too, but movies and even youtube videos or vines are the more ‘fun’ portion (for me).
In this article Rumble and Youngs look over the recent past of celebrities getting involved in politics, i.e. Kanye along with referencing a couple of studies surrounding voters and celebrity endorsement. It was concluded that family and friends are much more likely to have an impact than ones favorite celebrity. In my mind, that makes perfect sense given that as humans we have a need to belong, and typically that need isn’t satisfied through a celebrity crush. Not only that, but celebrities aren’t often people to people, they’re an image/ideal. Celebrities exist in people’s lives to entertain them. Family and friends are the foundation of ones life, and will commonly share the same core values, which are what impact one’s political outlook.
The article references Taylor Swifts failed political endorsement and Beyonce’s. (Although, i don't think Beyonce's was a failure, personally. BETO 2020). It was also noted that Taylor got more young people to register for voting, which this article predicted will impact the 2020 election. I think it’s possible celebrity endorsement is impactful, but I think more dire things will impact the polls come 2020.
In this article Rumble and Youngs look over the recent past of celebrities getting involved in politics, i.e. Kanye along with referencing a couple of studies surrounding voters and celebrity endorsement. It was concluded that family and friends are much more likely to have an impact than ones favorite celebrity. In my mind, that makes perfect sense given that as humans we have a need to belong, and typically that need isn’t satisfied through a celebrity crush. Not only that, but celebrities aren’t often people to people, they’re an image/ideal. Celebrities exist in people’s lives to entertain them. Family and friends are the foundation of ones life, and will commonly share the same core values, which are what impact one’s political outlook.
The article references Taylor Swifts failed political endorsement and Beyonce’s. (Although, i don't think Beyonce's was a failure, personally. BETO 2020). It was also noted that Taylor got more young people to register for voting, which this article predicted will impact the 2020 election. I think it’s possible celebrity endorsement is impactful, but I think more dire things will impact the polls come 2020.
For Kelsey's post, she wrote about her opinion of the impact which celebrities have on polls. I personally have to agree with what Kelsey has to say because as a millennial, I am more likely to be swayed by media though, I don't see how a celebrity stating his or her political opinion has a large impact on the outcome of polls. I do believe that young people could be inspired to go vote by celebrities but not who people vote for. Celebrity influence on adults is hardly moving as not many adults pay attention to this kind of media. I have also noticed that the celebrities that share most about their political opinions are mostly popular with young people. This could also have an impact on why they don't have much impact on polls, because people who are influenced by their opinion may be too young to even vote. I feel that there should more to the celebrities' opinion than just a simple endorsement just for popularity but I definitely agree that their presence in the media is that of an ideal, rather than a source of political guidance.
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