Agenda-Setting Research and Agenda-Building Theory

W3
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W3
Q1: How has the proliferation of social media influenced the ways in which agendas are set and adopted? What about social media does extant agenda-setting research fail to account for?
The growth of social media has had a significant impact on communication in general. Social media and related technologies have emerged as the primary means of communicating in the contemporary digital age. With billions of daily users, social media has definitely become the main agenda-setting platform. A study by Meraz (2011) shows that traditional media has lost its grip on setting the agenda in political communication. On the other hand, blogs have become very influential, are the main trendsetters, and set the agenda for today’s politics.
Agenda-setting research fails to account for the impact of mobile phone communication on the growth of social media and how this has, in turn, affected agenda setting. Today, smartphones have become a necessity. It is through these gadgets that people constantly engage with each other on digital platforms and share ideas. Therefore, agenda-setting studies need to demonstrate how smartphones contribute to strengthening the impact of social media.