Social Politics

Social media has blown politics wide open in so many ways. What used to be the realm of hoity-toity newspapers and men’s clubs is now out there for all to see and comment on. It’s live and alive. I remember when I was a kid, politics was some sharp faced, red nosed geezer blathering broken promise after broken promise for hours on the telly. While I don’t follow it consistently, it seems to me that modern politics is much the same coupled with 24/7, instantaneous and ever-present social media.

It’s well documented that Australian politicians such as Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard are following Barak Obama’s lead and investing heavily in social media. Obama took out Mitt Romney in the 2012 US elections in a landslide by using pioneering social media seduction and it would be senseless for the leaders of the free world to ignore this powerful and colossal tool. Kevin Rudd seems to have embraced social media and digital interaction the most, starring in viral videos, re-tweeting and sharing and posting selfies all over the shop. By doing so K-Rudd has made himself relatable and relevant to a multitude of people previously considered excluded from the political agenda - Generations X & Y. Some may consider Kevin’s digital approach a waste of time but from where I’m standing, the world is evolving rapidly around us and only the strongest and most adaptable will survive. And who deems whom the strongest and most adaptable? Well it’ll be the young ones who will be here long after you, me, and the current political cast.

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/MrKRudd

SOURCE: http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-YP568_0821se_H_20130820232259.jpg

 

 SOURCE: https://twitter.com/JuliaGillard

But as always there’s a flipside. Even politicians aren’t immune to the eternal damnation that is the social media faux pas. In this article, ABC journalist and blogger Jarrod Strauch describes how shoot-from-the-hip tweets can come back to haunt even the most experienced politicians and goes on to say that ‘mistakes’ like Wendy Francis’ “legitimising gay marriage is like legalising child abuse” comment are actually doing the Australian communities a favour, ‘[letting] us know what politicians are thinking... illuminat[ing] the more colourful characters ... and expos[ing] the bigotry still present in modern politics’.

More recently, popular television personality and prolific blogger Charlie Pickering is using his online presence to highlight social issues such as gender equality, climate change and gay rights. These issues are relevant to the iGeneration and are often brushed to the wayside by typical politicians. As with Kevin Rudd, by highlighting these nouveau concerns, writing about them and promoting them in his affable-yet-informed manner, Charlie is making a name for himself as a competent political commentator.

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/charliepick

So to wrap up I’d like to finish on a provocative note because like Charlie, I believe that social media is key to social change. The world is rapidly shifting and with it our community views. Social media is keeping us connected and fuelling greater global ties and politicians should absolutely hop on board this gravy train and use it to create and enforce more relevant policies and guidelines. Those who refuse to hop on deserve to be left behind and we as a society can use a politician’s capacity for social media use as a stick measure for whether they really have the right (or the foresight) to be speaking for me. Oh how very Gen-Y of me to say!

REFERENCES: 

'Kevin Rudd social media campaign gearing up on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube', 2013, news.com.au, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://www.news.com.au/technology/kevin-rudd-social-media-campaign-gearing-up-on-twitter-facebook-and-youtube/story-e6frfro0-1226577817645>

Pickering, C 2014, charliepickering.com, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://charliepickering.com/>

Rutledge, P, 2013, mprcenter.org, 'How Obama won the social media battle in the 2012 Presidential Campaign', The Media Psychology Blog, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://mprcenter.org/blog/2013/01/25/how-obama-won-the-social-media-battle-in-the-2012-presidential-campaign/> 

Selfie, 2013, wikipedia.org, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie>

Strauch, J 2010, abc.net.au, 'Social Media and Politicians, enough (virtual) rope', viewed 7 January 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/35774.html>