Is social media the way of the future for politics? Taking into account the huge success of the Barack Obama campaign, I would say definitely! His team of experts nailed it because they treated the site as more than just a source of information for voters. They implemented Rheingold's online community principle: there must be meaningful interaction and evidence that opinions are taken seriously.
What is needed to create a successful online campaign?
Schossow (2009) designs political websites and warns that the most important rule when using social media in a campaign is not to let it become a "ghost town". The human presence behind the site should be clearly visible. This again illustrates Rheingold's view of the human desire to belong. Schossow believes that a campaign should at least have a presence on the Big Four (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr).
According to Fitzpatrick (2011) there are an additional three crucial steps for turning social media support into actual votes. Firstly the candidate needs to connect with his audience by sharing his/her ideals, goals, accomplishments and behind the scenes images. This turns ordinary people into celebrities. They become familiar strangers by allowing the audience a glimpse into their personal lives. Secondly the candidate needs to engage with his/her audience and lastly, and probably the most crucial step of all, is to turn digital followers into real world volunteers.
What sort of candidate will perform well in this environment?
Although politicians are used to being in the limelight all the time, this is virgin territory for most. The main aim with moving campaigns online is to attract younger voters. Heather Smith from Rock the Vote discusses this very topic:
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| Roy Wyatt |
Some media sources argue that entertainment must be provided in a bit to attract the younger generation. I can see that posting a game on a political site might attract a few bored souls, but will it have any impact on how people vote? Will it engage them in political discussion?
Are we perhaps valuing entertainment too highly? Linnell (2012) likens the American election to an episode of American Idol. We tend to focus on the spectacle, rather than the unexciting trends which are quite often the most significant ones. The question is what will happen when this current generation we cater for matures? Will they simply abandon the internet and get their information from other sources? Or will they become a generation with no interest in serious political issues because they have not been exposed to it?
References
Fitzpatrick, A 2011, How political campaigns can turn social media support into votes, Mashables, viewed 4 January 2013,
Linnell, G 2012, Politics and the Infotainment problem, Huffington Post, viewed 4 January 2013,
Schossow, C 2009, Using social media in political campaigns, Media Campaigns, viewed 4 January 2013,
Lots of great questions Linda - I have them all too. I have always found it hard to take politics seriously (I am lucky I guess living in Australia where the left and right always seem to aim to meet up somewhere in the middle - nothing too extreme) and I think that the efforts to use social media to grab thte attention of younger voters highlights that we don't need to take things like policies too seriously!
ReplyDeleteSo many unanswered questions Lisa, but that is exactly what I enjoy ... it draws out debate and broadens the mind :-)
Deletehi Linda, maybe we don't need to try so hard to get the young voters interested? Should we really bribe people with entertainment to interest them in politics. I say generally politics is a mature game and people will take part when they are ready. I am not convinced the social media will recruit young voters but it certainly is a great platform for sharing information for the candidates!
ReplyDeleteHi Seda, politics surely is a tricky subject. I tend to lose interest at times too because I find the candidates acting childish and playing silly semantic and power games ... but then I remember that these people and their actions determine the quality of my future ...
DeleteThe social media side is fascinating though and something I will follow with great interest (and a better understanding) this coming election.
Hi Linda, this week certainly seemed to be a tough one for everybody - I've found the blogs a bit hard going and bogged down with information but little insight. Having said that, I found yours informative and insightful! I liked how you linked Howard Rheingold's theory of online communities to the use of social media in politics - I'm always forgetting the previous weeks topic as soon as we're on to the next one, will have to get some pointers from you on how to connect all the dots :-)
ReplyDeleteI definitely think engaging young people in politics is important, although I don't know that making politics entertaining is quite the right way to go about it, as you said there are important issues behind all the posturing, backstabbing and name-calling. But perhaps it's a start?
I totally agree with you that the extent of all the new information can be mind blowing! It often feels as if I have been living under a rock as I discover more about social media ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words with regards to the blog - I'll keep it as inspiration when next I feel overwhelmed!