By Rachael Arnts–Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the next president of the United States. But first, let me take a selfie.
The Iowa caucus is quickly approaching. Morningside College is fortunate to be a stopping place for many hopeful candidates.
This year in particular there seem to be two types of spectators at campaign stops. The first group are the ones who are actually interested in what the speaker has to say. The second group goes to get their shot at a photo opportunity to post on their Snapchat Story, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts. This group mainly consists of young adults who could not care less about the speech itself.
For Morningside sophomore Taylor DeVary, it depends on who the candidate is if she will attend a speech or not. For example, she went to see Bill Clinton for two reasons.
“Being a former president and with the upcoming election of his wife, I wanted his view on the subject matter.” The other reason she went was because she doesn’t think people should miss an opportunity to meet a former president.
“I wanted to meet a celebrity,” admits Morningside sophomore Savannah Hanlin. She also attended Bill Clinton’s recent visit and was fortunate to get a decent selfie with him. Hanlin is not concerned with politics at the moment, but plans to get more involved later in the year as the election approaches.
Both DeVary and Hanlin agree that young adults care more about selfies. Hanlin comments, “I do think that teens nowadays are more interested in getting more likes on social media with a selfie with a famous person than what could affect their future.”
The lack of caring for politics could become trend in the future. Candidates may have to revamp their campaigns to better relate to social media consumed college students.
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