No More Apathy: Politics Through Social Media

I cannot help but get the feeling that all too often American citizens fall far short of upholding their constitutional right to participate in America’s institutionalized democracy. I also cannot tell you how many of my acquaintances pitilessly struggle to emphasize with my plea for political participation. Using your hand (hopefully you’ll get to the second one), count the number of reasons you believe being well educated about your government and legislature is important — that’s what I thought.

I would be lying if I said I was politically involved by choice. In fact, I am pretty sure that the only reason the governmental agenda found a home on my personal agenda was because I was tired of hearing my brother tell me how to vote, which policy was the best and his continual argument (which he’d likely go on to win) about why I was wrong for having a "hunch" about a certain politician. So, with a severe case of Rebellious-Brother-Syndrome (RBS), I took on an additional major in Political Science.

Do not feel as though you need to go back to school in order to learn about the paranoid and partisan world of politics, but do not be shy to lace up the gloves and step into the arena of policy. Take the smallest step you can by logging onto The White House website. A world (literally) of issues eagerly waits.

Assuming you are as uncertain about the political climate as I was, you could also start at a non-government sponsored, independent website called trailObama.com. Created as a means to disseminate presidential information to new audiences, trailObama.com appears to be attempting to establish itself as the official Obama discussion page.

Whereas once politics blushed in its introverted nature in the face of Social Media, the new Obama administration has their very own Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other innovative, dare I say, fun and engaging methods of communication.

So, if you are currently involved and interested in your government — great, but don’t keep your thoughts to yourself. Encourage those acquaintances to learn about a policy or two, and inform them that there is in fact a remedy for the severe syndrome of RBS.

Photo: Flickr Mashup of a famous image by Shepard Fairey.