A Correlational study between the relationship of

Politics and Social Media

among Baguio netizens

Herry, Jomar S.
Manao, Jim Paul B.
Immoliap, Valery Ellaine A

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Politics
The word “politics” comes from the Greek word “polis” which
means “city-state.” In the ancient world, city-states are small
countries regarded as centers of culture and civilization where
people interact under a unified government. What transpires in
the polis is politics. The origin of the word therefore suggests
that politics is a term encompassing the totality of human
activities transpiring within the city-state. As it is applied
now, it denotes everything that transpires in the state as well
as among states (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016).
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines politics as the art or
science of government, the art or science concerned with guiding
or influencing governmental policy and the art or science
concerned with winning and holding control over a government.
Also, the Cambridge Dictionary defined politics as the activities
of the government, members of law-making organizations or people
who try to influence the way a country is governed.
Moreover; philosophers also defined the word politics. Plato
stated that, “the art of politics is making the most beautiful
and most excellent of all tissues, shell in each city, all the
people, slaves or free men, the overall emissions in its frame,
and providing to the City any the happiness it can enjoy, control
and direct”. Aristotle also mentioned that “Science is the
sovereign political science and since the policy makes use of
other practical sciences and, moreover, to legislate on what to
do and what we must abstain, the end of this science will
encompass the purposes of other sciences; whence it follows that
the end of the policy will be strictly human well”. Furthermore;
Hobbes defined politics as, “the only way to build a common power
is to entrust the power and strength to one man, or Assembly that
would reduce all their wills, by majority rule in one will. That
is to say, appoint a man or a meeting, to assume the personality
of the people and that everyone admits and recognizes as the
author of anything done or would have done so, as to those things
which concern Peace and Security Policy, who has assumed their
personality, and each, therefore, submit to his will and the will
to trial and trial of this man or this meeting. The multitude,
and united in a single person, is so called Republic. This is the
generation of that great Leviathan”. More definitions from other
philosophers such as Machiavelli, Chateaubriand, Weber and Mao
Tse Tung also defined the word politics. Machiavelli said that,
“Everything is not political, but politics is interested in
everything”. Chateaubriand said that the greatest misfortune of
men is to have laws and a government. Any government is evil, any
government is a yoke. Weber also mentioned “In politics, we mean
all the efforts made to participate in power or to influence the
distribution of power, either among states or among the various
groups within a state” (the Spirit of Capitalism). Lastly, Mao
Tse Tung stated that, “Politics is war without bloodshed, war and
bloody policy” (Philosophy, 2019).
Politics denotes a social activity. It is in essence the
interaction of individuals. As the Greek philosopher Aristotle
explains, it is the master science through which individuals
collectively set structure, purpose, and ideals in their lives.
Politics, therefore, does not emerge from the activities of a
single individual but from that of many. Politics is about
conflict and cooperation. On one hand, conflict is caused by the
diversity among individuals that of which involves the citizens.
People differ in the way they perceive things, and disagree in
almost every conceivable aspect of life. On the other hand,
cooperation is motivated by men’s common goal of achieving a
happy life. While it is true that men argue and fight, it is also
undeniable that they desire for peace. The process of overcoming
conflict to attain order and thereafter maintain that order is
politics. In other words, politics is essentially conflict
resolution. Politics is also the creation, maintenance, and
amendment of societal norms or rules. While politics as conflict
resolution aims at establishing order in the society, the basis
of order today is law. Undeniably, religion and other archaic
institutions have already lost their central role as sources of
order. It is law now that serves as the undisputed order-
establishing institution. Modern states and international
organizations rely on the adequacy and efficacy of their laws to
meet the demands of the people to attain domestic and
international peace. Politics therefore, in it’s broad sense
means conflict resolution through the creation, maintenance, and
amendment of societal norms or rules. Also, politics is the
science of government. As a science, it also deals with the
protection of the rights of its citizens, safeguarding and
enhancement of morals, and harmony and peace of human relations.
With this, the social theorists even argued that the common good
could only be attained through the active participation of the
citizens. As stated by Harold Lasswell, “Politics is who gets
what, when, and how”. The definition implies the reality of
“scarcity” in the society. While human needs and wants are so
diverse and numerous, the resources are always limited. The
struggle involved in allocating the scarce resources, and
determining what to produce, how to distribute, and use them is
said to be politics. Modern political theories conform to this
definition as it establishes the unique connection of politics
and power. Power creates structures and explains the struggle
among individuals or groups of individuals. It is in this sense
that politics deviates from ethics inasmuch as any means could be
used to get whatever is desired and whenever it is desired for as
long as it serves the purpose. On the other hand, according to
Ponton and Gill, politics is the way in which social affairs are
understood and ordered, and by which people acquire greater
control over the situation. The definition puts to light the
different political ideologies and philosophies that underlie
societal structures. “Order” and the “understanding of reality”
are shaped by the political orientation of the people. That by
which people view and organize the world is said to be politics.
Without politics, there is anarchy and a state of constant war.
But its existence establishes order in various forms. It gives
rise to different kinds of governments: monarchy, aristocracy and
democracy. That the society should be ruled by a single
individual, by a selected few, or by all is a matter of
preference that depends on the temperament of the affected group
of people. What is important is that politics helps the people
acquire greater control over the vagaries of their existence.
Lastly, Adrian Leftwich said that politics comprises all the
activities of cooperation, negotiation and conflict within and
between societies, whereby people go about organizing the use,
production or distribution of human, natural and other resources
in the course of the production and reproduction of their
biological and social life (Tamayo, 2014).

Social Media
Social media is a collection of Internet-based communities
that allow users to interact with each other online. This
includes web forums and user-generated content websites
(Techterms.com,2020)
 Social media has been referred to as “social media sites” or
a set of information technologies which facilitate interactions
and networking. It has been defined as websites which allow
profile creation and visibility of relationships between users
web-based applications which provide functionality for sharing,
relationships, group, conversation and profiles. Another
definition of social media refers to internet-based applications
built on Web 2.0, Web 2.0 refers to a concept as well as a
platform for harnessing collective intelligence. Social media
such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, provide people with
pervasive network connectivity (Wolf, Sims & Yang, 2018).
Media is regarded as instruments of communication and with
the examples such as radio,newspaper and websites, Veil, Buehner
and Palenchar (2011) make the argument in citing that social
media is human communication, possessing characteristics of
participation, openness, conversation, community and
connectedness. Social Media refers to the interaction among
people in which they create, share, or exchange information and
ideas in virtual communities and networks. It is the collective
of online communication channels dedicated to community based
input, social interaction, content-sharing, and collaboration and
it consists of the tools, services, and communication
facilitating connections among people with common interests.
Moreover, social media is the use of web-based and mobile
technologies including applications to turn communication into an
interactive dialogue. Moreover, Wihbey (2013)said that the
internet plays a larger role in governance, campaigns and
activitism, arguments on how social and digital media changes
politics. He added that the tendency of like-minded individuals
to cluster even closer together in their habits and viewpoints
might increase political polarization and the real definition of
social media becomes skeptical in terms of the tangible impact
for campaigns because some critics point out that journalists are
not sufficiently keeping up with new, effective campaign tactics.

Statement of the problem and Hypothesis

The aim of the study is to identify the relationship of
politics and social media among Baguio internet users or
netizens. The following research questions will be explored:

1. What is/are the impact/s of social media in politics and

politics to social media?
2. Does social media increase political polarization?
3. Does social media increase political engagement in a
community?
4. Does social media bring the majority to the right political
belief?

References
Cambridge University Press (2020). Politics. Retrieved from:

www.google.com/amp/s/dictionary.cambrige.org/us/amo/
english/politics
Merriam Webster (2020). Politics. Retrieved from: www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/politics
Philosophy.com (2012). Politics: Philosophical definition.
Retrieved
from:www.google.com/amp/s/www.philosophy.
com/politics- philosophical-definition/amp
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2016). Aristotle’s
political theory. Retrieved from: https://plato.
stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics
Tamayao, M. (2014). Introduction to Politics. Retrieved from:

https://tamayaosbc.com.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/
introduction -to-politics-2/
Techterms.com (2020). Social Media Definition. Retrieved from:

www.google.com/amp/s/techterms.com/amp/definition/
social_media
Veil, S. R., Buehner, Tara and Palenchar, Michael J.(2011). A
Work-In-Process Literature Review: Incorporating
Social Media in Risk and Crisis Communication. Journal
of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 19(2), 111-
122.

Wihbey, J. (2013). Effects of the internet on politics: research

roundup. Retrieved from: https://journalistsresource.
Org./studies/politics/citizen/action/

Wolf, M., Sims,J. & Yang, H. (2018). Social media? What social
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resources/documents/ukais%25202018