Data Transcript

D: So I asked for this interview on a subject I am researching

J: Okay, what is the subject?

D: How social networks may be used as a campaign strategy to influence votes.

J: Awesome, I love politics

D: Okay so first question is do you use social networks at all?

J:  I use facebook everyday. I have a lot of friends and family that use it and it is a great way to keep in touch.

D: Awesome. Concerning social networks, what do you do on facebook?

J:Well, I post humorous satire as well as political. I am heavily outspoken and opinionated. My facebook friends have a view of my political and personal views.

D: Interesting. Besides socializing, do you look at community pages on social network sites at all?

J: Yes, but not as often as I should be.

D: Uhm, oh yeah; how long have you used your Facebook?

J: 2013. I would say that is a little bit recent, yeah?

D: In technology ages, that is pretty recent (Laughs)

J: (Laughs)

D:Since you said you love politics; I am guessing you have a pretty deep involvement.

J: I really do, uh, I plan to make politics my career in the near future. I aim to be a voice to the people and help any way I can.

D: Now since you said this, how much involved in politics are you?

J: I make observations based on situations contact local officials as well as federal legislators with suggestions for political discussions. I understand that they do not take citizen opinions seriously, but I hope they take the opinions of the public seriously.

D: So you would like to be a politician as a career.

J: Yeah, that’s the reason I took the major I did. I love it.

D: Now, considering social networks have a  lot of news on them. Do you personally use Facebook as a political reference at all?

J: (Laughs) Not at all. I take my news from CNN, MSNBC, Huff-Post, and liberal biased media networks. Sometimes I’ll look at posts on facebook for news.

D: Think about the last presidential election. Did you have activity on facebook at all?

J:I only use it to voice my opinions off of news channels and what I saw during debates. That was about it.

D:Did you use social networks as a political reference during the last election?

J:Being as how I study politics and also research my local politicians and country’s politicians during debates and meetings, I believe I was informed without having to look at my facebook as a reference. I wouldn’t even consider that a reference.

D: For the elections, did you check out the candidates campaign pages?

J: No, not really. I was already informed about them and considering I do my research on an unbiased statute, I really wouldn’t check a campaign page on a social network.

D: Why is that?

J: The campaign sites talk about what they plan to do or what they have done that was great, but I want to know everything about them. Not just the good stuff they did.  It’s like jumping into a relationship blind. If you don’t know the person but believe all the good things they give you at face value, you will never know that person truly. Just my opinion.

D: Have you seen the pages at least?

J: Yes, just to see what they were dealing with. It didn’t impress me. It was no more than someone putting up a page about a car dealership and advertising that this car has great mileage. You won’t know anything if you don’t see the carfax (Laughs jokingly)

D: So this leads me to my final question. Do you believe that campaign strategies involving social networks influence voters at all.

J: I feel like it is another advertisement trying to sell someone into office. It doesn’t influence votes, it just re-iterates what the politician probably have said on t.v. or in a newspaper. It is just another campaign except in print.

D:Well thank you J for your time. Your answers were really insightful.

J: No problem at all D.