Rise of Populism on Social Media

    I would like to share my analysis of the growing threat of populism online. Populism is one of the contributing factors to the increase in political polarization. Populism on social media is the result of many politicians seeing an opportunity to spread their message online to a mass of people. Many countries have had populists' figures such as the U.S, France, Italy, England, and so on gained an increase of following on social media. Knowing how to provoke emotions through often nationalistic and populistic rhetoric, creates a strong following that users will challenge any other narrative that competes against theirs. It should be noted that populism can develop on both the left and right political spectrum, but a lot of current cases consists of far-right populism. Social media is just one place, perhaps the most important place where populism can be fueled and spread. 

    Independent users, even bots can use and promote populist rhetoric in the online platforms just as politicians. They do it by sharing links, their own opinion, and blaming opposition groups as current examples. A lot of the time, the information they are spreading is misinformation resulting in increasing biases. Like all people, they are allowed to voice their opinion and beliefs and have open civil dialogue. Unfortunately, this is not entirely the case, as echo chambers have instead formed, and polarization is ever increasing. Politicians like Donald Trump, Marie Le Pen, Andrzej Duda, and many others are known for their populist rhetoric that challenges the whole federal governmental system in general in the EU and the U.S. The digital age differs from the traditional media, radio and news stations were able to select what they want the public to be informed about in the traditional media model. While it is bad that the traditional media puts our attention away from things they don't want us to see, there are certain benefits to it. Not allowing fascists or communist propaganda before and after WWI is a good example of keeping the U.S democracy in check.  In the digital age of media however, traditional news companies can't stop anti-government rhetoric from spreading. While social media platforms can sensor and block content from users, a large percentage of polarizing content is able to be spread. In essence, populism is an effect of the digital age of media, we just have to learn to limit/stop it from hurting democracy.