Social Media's Affects on Politcs

I have been exploring the ways that social media has been affecting politics through recent readings and research.  In my searching, I have come up with three common themes of how things are changing:

1. Everything can be shared so that news spreads faster.  
   Plus, you can share an article with all of our hundreds or thousands of social media friends/followers with a single click.  Just ten years ago, you had to call and tell each one of them about it to share that information!
2. It's easier to funnel news down to your preferences and interests.
   Where on ESPN you have to suffer through 90% talk of other sports or teams, in the world of social media, you can follow pages that report about your team.  And in politics, it's very similar.  In the past, you might have to watch a 60-minute show (with commercials -what are those?) in order to hear the main story that interested you or your candidate's speech.  Now you can choose what news you want to see.
3. Making a difference can be done more efficiently and directly.
   Organizing donations for politicians, emergency catastrophic relief, and even people going through tough times is easier now than ever.  Social media has made creating ways to share and donate to causes easy and convenient.  You don't even have to have cash in your wallet! A few clicks and you've supported a worthy cause or candidate.

Do all of these things mean that we are not as diversely aware of what is going on in our world? Perhaps.  But simultaneously we have more information more readily available than ever before.