Politicians and Social Media

                   HOW IS SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGING POLITICS?

                                   Digital has enhanced, not replaced, grassroots politics.

Social media offers yet another benefit and step forward for society. Today we move into the world of politicians and their use of social media. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube shine through again being utilised for political elections and campaigns. Literally anyone with the Internet has the means to access all online information and as we all know news can become viral in a matter of minutes. These tools aid improvement for politicians campaigns, with the opportunity to reach a broader audience and demographic. Recent findings show politicians in this day and age should be using social media to keep up with the 'digital natives', that is young people who are glued to the internet and social media. Using these social media platforms will attract younger generations to actually take interest as it is now being paraded in their Facebook newsfeed or in the Twittersphere which has great potential to draw in more possible voters. Politicians would be crazy not to jump on board and take advantage of social media to gain more coverage and to better succeed in their campaigns.

US President Barack Obama was seen as the 'game changer' in digital politics. He very successfully embraced social media in the 2008 election to its full advantage, to actually build relationships with his citizens which allowed him to create a conversation. In contrast Barack's opponent John McCain only saw social media as a means for distributing information to the public and as a result lost the election. It has been made clear that McCain didn't realise that to use social media as successful tool you must listen as well talk. It is crucial that politicians understand that social media is vital, but only if there is two-way communication. Barack created an environment of government transparency which had never been experienced in american politics.

Obama-Biden campaign stats-

• 5 million supporters on social networks
• 2.5 million followers on Facebook alone
• sent 13 millions emails
• had 4 million digital donors
• 50 million viewers watched 14 million hours of video on YouTube (which was only 3 years old)
• 1800 videos were posted to YouTube (most held more than 1 million views)

It just goes to show that using new means such social media is just as crucial if not more as traditional means such as knocking on doors in an effort to get citizens to the polls. Politicians on Twitter, photos on Instagram, videos on YouTube and Facebook updates about policy will now be the political norm. The way politicians interact with their citizens has forever changed.

However politicians should also be conscious that social media can be something of a double edged sword. Everything and anything including politics will make into the digital realm. Individuals can take a negative spin and expose or play up a politicians 'bad' side. Politicians should also be aware of their digital image. There is a need to connect with citizens maybe using humour and playful characteristics to provide entertainment but you still must be strictly professional and portray to the community that you are able to successfully run the country. 

The phenomenon of political social media coincides with Howard Jenkins view of participatory culture. Which is the encouragement of individuals as consumers to seek out new information and make connections between different media content. In this digital era we no longer have separate media producers and consumers it has now been transformed we are all participants who are encouraged to interact with each other. This creates conversation which creates a buzz and sends media content spiralling. This pretty much hits the nail on the head for Obamas campaign social media connected him to the people, started a conversation and the rest is history. 

As for the future of electioneering, it seems as though anything is possible for digital politics; as modern technology is continuously being improved. All i know for now is that the focus will be on the inclusion of the citizens.   

References:

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/452413/will_twitter_sway_elections_australia_/

Images:

http://vni.s3.amazonaws.com/120314221807326.jpg

http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/images/obama.jpg