Beto
Hoyos
Dr.
Brown
ENG
306
8
December 2016
Reaching out to millennials on the
importance of voting and political involvement as could be found in Huff Post
or Vice online, etc.
As the country continues to adjust
to the fact that Donald Trump will soon take the oath of office as our 45th
President, we millennials need to remain steadfast in our involvement and not
become discouraged with the political process simply because we didn’t get the
result we wanted. Now is the time to become more involved than ever. Don’t let
outside influences, like the media, social networks or friends impact your decisions,
morals or feelings. Believing that elections are rigged and thinking that your
vote doesn’t matter is a very dangerous and a very disheartening way to feel.
We are in a very unique position to affect and shape the future of this country
and very well the rest of the world, but it is up to us to be the change we
want to see.
With one of most unusual and most
spectated elections behind us, millennials (anyone
born after 1980) have no doubt harbored a sense of uncertainty and mistrust
in the government as well as in the political system. Uncertainty is nothing
new to this generation. Millennials are characterized in plenty of ways, and
challenging and questioning the status quo is one of those characteristics.
Just because we may get a response we don’t agree with from all sides, that doesn’t
mean we don’t cast a vote at all. Democracy is not a spectator sport, and if we
don’t become more involved and stay involved now, then when will we? We
millennials hold our future, our children’s future and the future of this
already great country in our hands.
In 2016, millennials became as large
and as coveted as baby boomers in the political system. At the beginning of
2016, the number of eligible millennials were nearly equal to those of baby
boomers. In April 2016 there were an estimated 69.2 million millennials of
voting age, weather registered or not, as opposed to baby boomers at 69.7
million (Fry). Both boomers and millennials made up about 31% of the electorate
population in this past election, while generation x and the greatest
generation make up about 25% and 12% (Fry). As other generations decrease and die out
as time goes on, our generations numbers will increase and remain in high
demand. It is up to us to be involved and make that difference.
Not just millennials, but all
Americans, with an emphasis on millennials need to understand how important it
is to turn out and cast your vote. Don’t assume that we don’t keep this country
going, because we do. According to number crunchers at mashable.com, 46.6% of
the U.S voting population did not vote in 2016. You want to look on the bright
side? Well, compared to the 1996 election where 49% of eligible voters didn’t participate,
this elections numbers were better, but just barely (Lekach). So if it seems
like we’re going in the wrong direction its because the people who did turn out
in large numbers, had the biggest say in the process. Your vote is your voice
within the political process and not casting a vote is the same as being silent
when asked a question.
If you don’t participate,
then you can’t complain.
There’s no doubt that we millennials
share a type of revolutionary spirit, especially when it comes to highlighting a
major problem or bringing an urgent change to social issues. Millennials have
been on the front lines when it comes to protests such as occupy wall street
and the black lives matter movement. As a fellow millennial its refreshing and
its thrilling to see such social involvement and its nice to see my generation
care about others and their well being weather socially or economically.
However, when it comes to voting there is still a general feeling among
millennials is that their vote doesn’t matter, or that their vote is
insignificant among a sea of millions of votes. We all need to take that same
enthusiasm we feel when protesting something or someone and take it to the
polling location and even campaign for your desired candidate. Being involved
comes in different forms, so be open to different ways of involvement. There is
also this sense of feeling that “someone who thinks like me will vote, so its
ok if I don’t”, but voting is more than filling in some bubbles and sending it
in. Voting gives you the right to speak up and voice your opinion on issues and
to criticize those who were elected. If you participated in the whole election
process, then you therefore have more of a right to participate in the criticism
of things when you feel the need to. If you participate in the process, then
you can participate is the criticizing, you can throw shade at a politician, you can
be openly opinionated, but make sure you’re involved. Don’t add to the
stereotype that says that millennials whine and complain about things.
Just because its on the
internet doesn’t mean its true!
Millennials are in such a unique
position in life. We grew up and matured at the same time as the information
age grew and matured. Now as millennials come of age, become young
professionals and establish families, the internet and information age has
become such a normal part of a millennials everyday life. Technology has
touched nearly every aspect of a millennials life from entertainment to
gathering news. Social media has certainly brought people together and reconnected
old friends, and that’s all well and good, but another thing that social media
has done is decrease the trust people have towards the media. Another thing
social media has done, especially during the past election, is separate the audience and
pinned people against each other. This previous election forced people to pick
a side. Fake news or sites known for being “click bate” have certainly flooded
Facebook feeds in recent years and that seriously adds to the problem. Social
media sites like Facebook are aware that this is of major concern to its users
and its of major concern for the site as well. Fake news not only lessens the
credibility people have towards Facebook as a credible site to gather info, but
fake news can also very much affect the company’s bottom line and well standing
on wall street.
As millennials who grew up with the
internet being such a normal thing, we’ve heard it all before and we know that
we can’t trust everything we see on the internet. The issue of fake news on
social media sites is of increasing concern because today about 62% of U.S
adults turn to social media for their news (Woolf). We need to be able to distinguish
between credible and reliable and what is not. There has even been growing
concern over fake news from President Obama who this past November questioned
the authenticity of these articles. Obama said in an interview with the New
Yorker that “If we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda
then we have problems”. Obama even went on to describe the new landscape of
online news as a place where everything is true and nothing is true (Woolf). Millennials
are the generation that blends social awareness with just enough anti
establishment and curious nature to remain unrelenting when questioning sources
or questioning authority. So let’s remember to questions the source and the reliability
of stories.
Influence yourself.
The
2016 election certainly had its share of opinionated individuals who were not
afraid to show support for their favorite candidate. One thing we all must
remember is that at the end of the day elections are personal. We must not take
elections so lightly from here on out. These are choices which are going to
affect our lives weather we realize it at the time of voting or not. Next
election we’ll all be older and more mature with different life situations
happening so form the same strong opinions you have towards anything else in
life. Just because your favorite singer endorses Bernie Sanders or Hillary
Clinton doesn’t mean you have to, especially if you don’t agree with their
politics. Just follow your heart, that’s what I always do.
Influences come in all forms and
shapes and sizes. Just like our tastes in music, fashion and recreation have
grown and changed, so to will our opinions. Forming different opinions than
your parents is not a bad thing, and it doesn’t mean you’re turning your back
on your family. On the contrary, it means that your family has molded you to be
different, stand apart and form your own opinions. We also need to take the
millennial qualities we millennials share, like being opinionated, fearless and
unrelenting and use that when it comes to being involved in the political
process. Influence yourself, don’t play yourself.
Thanks for listening to a fellow millennial,
Sincerely,
Beto Hoyos
Word
count: 1470 (letter)
Let
me explain!
As we learned through out this
semester, protest rhetoric is found in every aspect of communicating a desired
topic to a certain audience. An open letter has all the makings and all the
technical makings of a protest. I begin the conversation by relating to my
audience, since we’re the same generation, I explain how I too feel a similar
way that most of my audience may feel. I am not writing this letter to try and
scold someone, but rather I’m writing it to inform and to emphasize the
importance of political involvement and the importance of voting.
In this paper I mention the effect
that social networks and mass media has had on the voter population, and in
class we learned that media can have a huge impact on an audience. In the
Deluca and Peeples readings we learned how violence has been influenced by mass
media. We may not necessarily relate an uproar in unrest and violence to the
media because for so long we’ve thought about the media and news as a
journalistic entity that is there to inform and protect us. When it comes to
living in this ever evolving age of instant information, we have to be critical
of the info we’re receiving.
When I talk about this election and
how much division it created and when I mention that I know the feeling, I’m
relating to the audience and trying to appeal to their emotional side, using
that pathos approach. Millennials are not stereotypes and are not a monolith
and we can’t become discouraged with fellow Americans and fellow millennials. We
need to remember that protesting is healthy, that debating one another is
healthy, but most importantly being politically involved in healthy and
expected. After all, it is our right as Americans.
When I try and put myself into a
situation, or when I use my own experiences to bring an issue to the forefront
or to try and appeal to an audience I’m trying to appeal to the audience ethos.
I too have felt that my vote may not necessarily matter, but I understand the importance
of continuous political involvement. If we all don’t remain steadfast in our involvement,
we can’t complain when things don’t go our way or vice versa.
When I give the reader some numbers
and info to look at, it uses logos to add credibility to the subject and gives
the reader some facts and gives the thinkers food for thought. Numbers and
stats not only add credibility to what I’m trying to convey, it also allows my
point of importance to become more valid. A reader may see that more than half
of the voting population did not vote in this previous election and that may
open the minds of those who were not aware of that before.
Works Cited
Fry,
Richard. "Millennials Match Baby Boomers as Largest Generation in U.S
Electorate." Fact Tank. News in the Numbers., 16 May 2016. Web. 7 Dec.
2016
Lekach,
Sasha. "Nearly Half of Americans Didn't Vote, Not Even for Harambe."
Mashable. N.p., 9 Nov. 2016. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.
Woolf,
Nicky. "Obama Is Worried about Fake News on Social Media." The
Guardian. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.
