Following the Campaign

     Over the past week, following the two presidential campaigns has been a great but overwhelming experience. Due to the small amount of baseline information that I have in politics, reading anything current was a tedious process because I had to learn about more basic concepts as to why each president was doing what---well, I suppose I didn't have to but nothing would've made much sense if I didn't!
      I have learned a lot about each candidate throughout the past days. To be honest, I knew very little about each candidate, even our current president, simply because I rarely follow this genre of media. 
     As for Republican Mitt Romney, I learned who he was before his current run and what he's doing now in the presidential campaign. Things such as where he's from, his Governor reign in Massachusetts and his previous presidential nomination---all of which are important factors in his popularity amongst his followers during this 2012 campaign.
     Democrat and current president, Barrack Obama, was a little different in terms of what I learned about him. Most of the information that arose when I searched him on the Web was about his past four years as our nation's president. The list seems endless, but the most frequent things to show up was his Tax relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, Job Creation Act, and "Obamacare". Naturally, articles on how these and others have helped our nation, and articles on how Obama has put us in more debt than ever.
     My posts about the presidents on Facebook didn't cause much of an uproar---and I am not surprised. I got a few "likes" here and there, but no major responses. My friends are all pretty much on the same page as I am when it comes to being involved in the campaign. I also have posted so infrequently over the years about this subject that it was probably more surprising to see on my wall than it was to actually respond to the article!
     Unfortunately right now, learning more about the campaign hasn't changed my view on my choice to not vote. Honestly, the only reason for this is the fact that with work and school, I still don't feel like I have had enough time to learn enough to make any type of decision---and I have a little ways to go until school ends to have the time to learn more!
     Yes, I do think social media and the Web is an extremely effective political tool. With how busy people are, having the ability to engage in the current events that they may have missed on the 6 o'clock news is highly convenient and necessary in terms of creating awareness. It also allows people from all different backgrounds to come together and communicate their opinions and beliefs with others, which I think is a positive addition to online media. I am the perfect example of how being able to search any political event online is so helpful and positive in creating awareness.