Social Media influences on The Elections

Social media is already changing the way campaigns attract supporters.

Town hall meetings and even state of the union-watch events get posted on Facebook pages and tweeted to supporters.

As Facebook and twitter continue to expand, it seems it's also becoming more central to the political process.

Instructor of Mass Communications at CMU, Adam Cochrane said, "Not only do I think it's smart for political figures to do that, but also it's critical, if there not doing it, they're pretty much lost, if they wait and only rely on those people who are watching television on a certain time of day or certain channels, then you might miss out on the vast majority of what the campaign is doing."

Instructor of Mass Communications at CMU, Adam Cochrane isn't the only one who feels that social media plays a big role during an election.

Jason McCormick, a Grand Junction local said, "It has changed elections, especially with information ready at your phone or at hand, you can get any information you need about anybody's party"

"I think if social media wasn't part of this, it would have been a lot different," said Aiaga Roffey, a Grand Junction local.

Before the world of social media, candidates were dependent on t-v and radio as their main sources of communication.

"I actually found out where to vote on Facebook."

The average age of people who watch the news is 63, and the average age of social media users is 18 to 34.

It makes sense that the presence of social media has created a new opportunity for politicians to connect with young voters.

"I think we see today by the lines at Colorado Mesa University how long they are, that the youth vote is now far more active, and I think that is because they're active in social media and they're seeing issues that they care about broadcast throughout those various channels," added Cochran.

Abby Calvert, a student at CMU said, "I think it adds peer pressure to vote, because I put up a status that I wasn't going to vote and then a bunch of people said you better go vote, it's your right as an American, so I was like, alright I'll go vote."