Adam Chiara

[Commentary] Imagine a world where politicians have substantive debates at any time of the day; you don’t need a cable subscription to watch, and you are the one directly asking the questions of them. Is this a reality in 2016? No. But thanks to Donald Trump and other contributing factors, we are closer than ever.

With shifting demographics and a new way of consuming media, political discourse is being teed up for a golden era. And it starts with millennials, who will continue to become a larger share of active voters. Many millennials don't watch political debates on live TV. In fact, a major proportion don’t even subscribe to cable service. Yet, they are politically active, and do watch the debates online. So where does much of this political activity take place? On social media. This is where Facebook’s new Live feature comes in. Facebook has announced that it will soon allow for a two-way broadcast on Facebook Live. In other words, it will become a video chat that is public and easily sharable. So the question is, in future election cycles, what would stop an impromptu debate between candidates on Facebook Live?

[Adam Chiara is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Hartford]