Since its inception social media has changed nearly every facet of society and has become a key part of how we live in the 21^st century. In Australia those not using social media are in a clear minority with 76% of Aussies on social media while 91% are active users of the internet (Macfarlane, 2025). The shift towards the digital age has created the opportunity for social change through digital networks, based on this idea, this essay will be arguing the thesis statement, “social media platforms, Instagram, X, Tik Tok and Facebook have had an advantageous impact on political and social campaigns through structures, censors, features and accessibility of social media to the public.” To answer this thesis the essay will cover how social media is used in political and social campaigns and by political figures as well as how this compares to pre-social media times and why it has been advantageous. Before being able to argue this thesis there are key words that must be defined. The first and possibly most important is social media, Boyd and Ellison (2008) defined it as, “a platform to create profiles, make explicit and traverse relationships” while others such as Kietzmann (2011) described it as a set of functionalities or building blocks. Political change refers to the shift and transformation in government policies, structures and leadership which often caused by shifts in power dynamics or public sentiment. Social change is defined as an alteration of mechanisms in the social structure which is characterized by changes in areas of cultural symbols, rules of behaviour, social organization, or value systems. Finally collective action is action taken by a group of people together working towards a common goal emphasizing organizational power while connective action puts an emphasis on personal expression, scalability and organizational power of networks (Papacharissi and Trevey, 2018). By understanding and explaining these concepts with the use of examples this essay will successfully argue that social media platforms have had an advantageous impact on political and social campaigns.  

The social media platforms of Instagram, X, Tik Tok and Facebook provide political and social campaigns with many features and structures that aid in getting campaign messages into the public and cause changes. These include, data collection and targeted advertising, algorithms, fast sharing, communities, open access to social media and the large use of social media in society. Social media platforms are more than a mode of communication, rather promoting the patterning of communication which includes recording what is being said, recording different aspects of communication. Gathering information about the user sending, sharing, posting the message and how users interact with the content giving political and social context of the person (Langlois and Elmer 2013). This public opinion data gathered from posts by policy makers, news sites and political campaigns are used to gauge community beliefs and attitudes to influence policy, acceptance of decision-making, and behavioural changes. Not only can political campaigns influence change, but the public also influence policy through public opinion found in social media data collection, a report by ANZSOG found that policy decisions were made based on public opinion from social media. Using data collection political campaigns can specifically target geographical areas, similar ideologies or swing voters. Data collection aides’ political campaigns in their decision-making around what information and facts to give to voters that align with their values, it identifies patterns and trends, enhances voter understanding, guiding effective strategies and measures performance accurately. Collection of data is simply an analytical tool to understand social movement formation and impact (Melucci 1996). The ability for campaigns to access real data themselves rather than relying on news polls, party polling and traditional media to spread their message. Targeted micro-advertising is another feature of these platforms that are used by political campaigns, largely targeted at marginal seats, and demographics taking advantage of the exemption in privacy laws. For example, in the 2022 Australian election older women in the seat of Barker were more likely to see ads about agriculture businesses from the Liberal member whereas younger men would see ads about roads from the same candidate. Micro targeting is also an effective tool for independent candidates who cannot afford to spend big on TV and radio ads like the major parties, in the same election Climate 200 ran ads targeted at 18–34-year-olds for independent candidates about the government’s lack of support for climate change programs, resulting in wide-spread support for independents with 7 new independents elected in 2022, an example of how the feature of advertising in social media from the collection of data has been advantageous to political change (Bogle and Briggs 2022). A key feature of Instagram, Facebook, X and Tik Tok especially is the algorithm. The algorithm is a calculation used to understand user habits to cultivate the social experience and is an important feature used by political campaigns. This is due to algorithms amplifying extreme political views as they are designed to maximise user engagement which prioritizes polarising content, leading to echo chambers which can influence voter behaviour and the political discourse (Papacharrisi 2010), (Grzesiak 2025). In the 2024 US presidential elections Donald Trump utilised Tik Tok to garner support from younger voters, he did so through micro-targeting but also taking advantage of the algorithm’s prioritisation of extreme views such as Trump’s, it also prioritises emotionally charged videos and posts at times over fact-based videos creating a more polarising political discourse. Candidates are now focusing on viral trends, controversy and emotionally charged posts rather than deep policy discussions to gain and hold attention of voters. Candidates are now in control of what they say and what the public sees and hears rather than in traditional media where that is controlled by media companies, editors and journalists. However, a counterargument to the algorithm being advantageous from polarising views is the easier nature for misinformation to be spread amongst voters and the polarising make up of the algorithm, as it is not an even playing field for all candidates and can affect the political discourse too much, this is also a criticism of social media’s impact. Sharing is another feature of social media used in politics for change. Sharing organises individuals into networks with others that can share political information freely without coercion or incentives. This is advantageous as it is no longer just organised groups that are players in the political action circuit (Castells 2000). Convergent platforms such as X link people together through personalised interests, they don’t have to comprise their own belief systems to connect trough commonalities an area where politics can cause change in communities on platforms. The open access to social media and the large number of users of social media and the internet is advantageous for political change and aided by the above structures. With more of the population using X, Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook as their news sources in Australia with the ACMA reporting 20% of Aussies using these platforms as their main news source. A major difference between social media and mainstream media is that social media focuses on issues marginalised by the mainstream media (Berry, Kim and Spigel 2010), with reliance on mainstream media decreasing political campaigns are using social media as their main megaphone to highlight issues they want to address.

These platforms have been advantageous to political change by providing people with a form of direct democracy something every citizen has wanted since the beginning of democracy. Voters can see policies that affect them through sharing and the algorithms on platforms, they can directly engage with politicians in live streams, comments. Examples of political change caused by social media include, the 2016 and 2024 US Presidential elections, tougher climate laws passed in the 41^st Parliament of Australia due to advertisements by Climate 200, the 2022 Australian election which saw a change in government from social media use, with more younger voters than ever before. In the US especially there has been more political engagement with the Pew Research Centre reporting an increase in encouragement to vote and sharing of political information such as policy, who to vote for and how they voted. The exchanging of information available on platforms such as X, Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok have all increased political engagement in ways that traditional media couldn’t, higher political engagement makes it easier for political change and direct messaging from campaigns to voters. As argued by Papacharissi and Trevey in 2014 political campaigns successfully use connective action provided by these platforms to connect the public around bonds of sentiment.

Although social campaigns use many of the same features, structures and techniques there are others used and some extended to gain a further advantage in causing social change through Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and X. Social campaigns also use micro-targeting as well as fast sharing largely through hashtags and the ability to make a cause go viral. These social platforms enable voices to be heard whether they are a celerity or an ordinary citizen. Since the start of the digital age there have been many examples of social change been caused through these platforms. One of the earliest examples is the Arab Spring in 2011 where activists used X and Facebook to organise protests and get support for their fight for democracy. The instant sharing and ability to spread the message fast reached both locals but also a global audience who then put pressure on governments to address their citizen’s demands. Social campaigns have used analytics within platforms to gauge the performance of posts, reels, and information. Tools such as these can enhance effectiveness of social movements. Through the analysis of reach, engagement and demographics leaders can change and evolve their strategies immediately which ensures that their message impacts widely and resonates deeply with as many people as possible from as many backgrounds as they can. X and Facebook are platforms that can create change as seen in 2017 during the #MeToo movement to raise awareness about sexual harassment to challenge social ideals. By using hashtags and one of a simple nature it created a network and community of women from around the world who shared their stories of sexual harassment. The solidarity created through this community created tangible change in policies around the world and a shift in cultures and opinions. Instagram and Tik Tok have helped give rise to eco-activism and social justice with the visual features of these platforms helping to show in real-time incidents happening around the world offering examples to users and showing confronting images to encourage sharing, and to be shown in mainstream media for those who don’t use social media. All platforms offer a space for education about social causes. The ability to create infographics, live streams, live question and answers, news reels, video conferences, text-based press releases, social media accounts dedicated to the cause all create social change through education on social media. As with anything there are counter arguments. While Instagram, X, Tik Tok and Facebook facilitate discussion, community, and the opportunity for social change as outlined above, it also challenges organisers and leaders of change in misinformation, hate speech and online harassment particularly if platforms have poor filters and guidelines. To move past this accounts can turn off commenting, report hateful speech, misinformation and those making comments. If they are creating change through online communities’ privacy measures can be put in place before admitting others into groups and communities to ensure the safety of supporters. Overall, the platforms of Instagram, X, Facebook and Tik Tok have all been used to create and encourage social change through features such as analytics, fast sharing, real-time documentation, communities, strategic tools and education.

To conclude, methods to create social and political change have evolved from mainstream media to the social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X which have been successful in facilitating social and political change through their structures, features, tools and services.

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