It would surely be an understatement to describe our current election season as unprecedented. In recent memory, political rhetoric has never sounded more divisive, never have political parties seemed as conflicted, and never have young people and their technology played such a role in creating and shaping a nation’s opinions.

Hackley students know firsthand how vital a role social media has played in this election, as a majority of Upper School students engage on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other outlets of social media, where talk of the election has become commonplace.

Facebook in particular has become a hotbed of political commentary, and has led to many discussions and conflicts among students at Hackley.

“I see more and more people expressing their opinions on Facebook as the election goes on,” said senior Arielle Stern, “I find it really interesting to see what everyone is thinking on Facebook.”

The rest of the country reflects a usage of social media similar to Hackley, as one Pew poll found that 38% of all social network users have posted material relating to politics or social issues.

Presidential candidates are taking advantage of these new communication channels as well. Borrell Associates predicted in February that politicians would be allocating over 9% of their media budgets towards digital and social media, which totals an estimated $1 billion. This is how eager politicians are to win over the millennial vote, much of which comes down to relatability and transparency with the younger people of this country.

The newest developments in the political usage for social media have come with the recent burst in the popularity of Snapchat, an app that allows users to see compiled “live stories” of pictures and videos posted by other users of certain events happening around the world. Many presidential candidates have capitalized on this ability to instantly reach out to a younger, engaged audience. Politicians from John Kasich to Bernie Sanders have been featured in “stories” that occur during specific primaries, in attempts to motivate local citizens to vote.

Snapchat also releases filters regularly updated with the results from each state’s primary. Throughout the season, Snapchat has become a platform for users to be updated on the presidential election. In the recent New York Primary, Snapchat also released a new filter promoting Bernie Sanders’ campaign.

“I think a lot of times people become aware of the primaries happening and the overwhelming support for candidates, specifically from the Snapchat stories. It shows the demographic of who people support. I think Snapchat has led to an increased awareness about the election and the trends and demographics,” said sophomore Ellie Grueskin.  

Senior TJ Gooley said, “I think Bernie Sanders’ use of social media leverages a key advantage in the election – he seems more relatable to young adult voters who he is trying to appeal to.”

“Social media can actually be really honest, and shows people in their most authentic light,” said sophomore Elon Middleton. “Usually most people don’t have access to these kinds of personal videos of candidates and can’t really figure out for themselves their true feelings on a candidate. Social media can highlight some negativity that we might not see otherwise.”

These online platforms have also highlighted the polarizing nature of the election, as popularity has shifted away from mostly centrist and establishment figures to more radical and outsider perspectives, such as those of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. “I’ve definitely noticed more fights on social media because more and more people are expressing conflicting political ideas,” said senior Dom Meneses.

Clashing political ideologies aside, one thing is inherently clear: Hackley students, (as well young people nationwide) are more politically engaged than ever before, in part because of their opportunities to freely express their opinions on social media platforms. “I’m always really impressed by how passionate and intelligent people come off when I see their posts on Facebook, whether I agree with them or not,” said Arielle.