POLITICS & SOCIAL MEDIA

Source: www.socialmedianews.com.au

The way the crab sees the situation with (mainly Australian politicians) at the moment, is similar to that of musicians of the early 1980's - the beginning of the MTV (Music Television) era.  From that time on, it was not enough to write, perform and tour a great song.  To be competitive, the 80's musicians also had to come up with a fantastic piece of visual art - a video clip.

Of course, some musicians took to this better than others.  (I invite you dear reader to let your memories be the judge.  If you can remember that far back - you will be seeing the acid wash jean, the shoulder pad, the long perm - even the jump suit......)

Source: www.mashable.com

And so it is with politicians in this era - where not only do they have to be physically out and about, meeting and talking to people in their electorate - they must now maintain a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  Maintain a website, perhaps with a blog and a Flickr stream.  In other words a high level of social media competency is now expected of them.  And, just as with the 80's musicians, they must learn to excel in the new landscape to be competitive.

In his book "The Rise of the Fifth Estate", Greg Jericho (2012) examines the state of Twitter use in Australian politics and finds it wanting.  Apart from some exceptions - Malcolm Turnbull, Ed Husic, Jamie Briggs, Cory Bernardi and Scott Ludlum - Jericho (2012) concludes that no Australian politician yet has "taken the medium by the throat".  He puts it down to a reluctance to engage with the active, unpredictable nature of social media and believes that most politicians would rather herd or direct people to their websites where they (the politicians) can retain more control over the engagement.

But there is another aspect to the social media landscape that affects politicians and arguably complicates their work.  It is, I would argue, what former ALP minister Lindsay Tanner (2011) has called the "dumbing down [of] democracy".  Our 'pollies' do not just appear on TV screens at appointed news times anymore.  They are not huddled in Parliament House, out of reach of the public.  They need to reach out and make themselves accessible to the public like never before.  They have to be camera ready the minute they leave home and be ready to perform across platforms.  In person, on radio, on television, on message in YouTube addresses, be Twittering, maintaining a Facebook presence and blogging.

So much exposure and emphasis on performance appears to be having an effect on how we perceive politicians.  Appearance and relationship status of politicians seem to be as important as policy.  Tanner (2011), who left politics in 2010, experienced a transformation over his career, from serious politics to what he considered a sideshow, playing for laughs.  He saw that:

"Under siege from commercial pressures and technological innovation, the media are retreating into an entertainment frame that has little tolerance for complex social and economic issues.  In turn, politicians and parties are adapting their behaviour to suit the new rules of the game-to such an extent that the contest of ideas is being supplanted by the contest for laughs" (Tanner 2011)

The core of Tanner's (2013) book is about the relationship between politicians and the media.  Journalist and politicians alike recognise that each needs the other to exist.  The ABC's Media Watch program explored the state of the association as more and more, politicians are bypassing the traditional news outlets and broadcasting their own messages via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  Journalists, naturally feel their livelihood is under threat, but are concerned that without their scrutiny, the pollies could be getting away with all manner of untruths.

Politicians, like Kate Lundy, ALP Minister for Sport, ripostes that politicians are not being asked serious policy questions by the media.  She and other politicians despair that the media more and more ask questions to do with appearance, polls, emotional outbursts and leadership controversies.  Here is Julie Owens, Federal Member for Parramatta speaking on this topic:

As stated earlier, some deal with the social media challenge better than others.  Larger than life politician Bob Katter, who is running for the seat of Kennedy under his Australia Party banner,  has an active website , Twitter and Facebook accounts, a YouTube presence and additionally has put out a call to Australian citizens to come up with a video that he can use in his campaign.  Crowdsourcing in action!  Entitled "Your Katter Campaign" - the search for a suitable video is being run as a competition - prize - exposure of your work, signed copy of Bob's book (a history of Australian people as told by Mr. Katter) and.....an Akubra hat!

Social media has worked extremely well for some politicians - Barak Obama's 2008 presidential being the most successful, setting a benchmark for citizen engagement.  Elsewhere, there is the success of Italian comedian Beppe Grillo, who's anti-corruption blog turned into a political movement, the third largest in that country.  Different methods for different environments.





                           

               

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