The Politics of Social

This blog will look at the effects of social media on politics, as well as how it is used in campaigns.

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Expectations. That is what will win or lose a debate, the expectations that people have of you going into them.

John Laschinger

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How Social Translates to Results

This past Thursday (November 13th) I had the privilege to be in the audience at a presentation given by John Laschinger. For those of you who do not know, John is one of the leading political campaign organizers in Canada and has been in the industry for over 30 years. In his presentation, John shared some insights into how he uses social media, and how its use has been effective in his own experiences.

Most recently, John Laschinger was the campaign director for Olivia Chow's mayoral race against the likes of John Tory and the infamous Rob Ford. While his social media campaign, particularly on Twitter and Facebook, was by far the effective (garnering Chow hundreds of thousands of likes and followers vs. a few thousand on the competition's end) they still lost out on election day. The real question is why?

John seemed to think that though social media is a great way to create buzz and share content that typical journalists may not necessarily find "newsworthy" , the amount of interaction and engagement that you have with your follower base does not always correlate with votes.This was especially prevalent in this campaign were Chow used social media to connect mostly with younger voters, who engaged with her heavily over social media but did not actually go out and vote.

One of the real issues with using social platforms as campaigning tools then would be to somehow link engagement to real votes. One suggestion, which is the same one often given to encourage younger people to vote in general, is to offer an option where people can choose to vote online. While we may not be at a point just yet where this is possible, it is certainly in the cards for the future. So what do you guys think? Is social media a viable campaigning tool? And what about offering online voting (i.e. through Twitter links)? Let me know!

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Political Communications

One of the biggest challenges in politics has always been fostering communication with those who would vote for you. In an age of instant communication this has been slightly alleviated, however it creates a new problem. Now that politicians know where to seek out people to communicate with, they have to discern how they will actually do it. While it may seem simple to post a status or tweet and get hundreds of responses, in reality there are still many things to consider. For instance, which social sites would be the best on which to share your message? Facebook may allow more conversations through the comments, but Twitter may be slightly more favourable to politics. You must also consider what time the message will be sent, particularly with Twitter, in order to reach the largest number of people in your audience. It is also especially important when using social media to ensure that your message is relevant to your audience. If you are targeting young people with your political message, you need to make sure the message is short, concise, and involves something to attract them. Attention spans are getting shorter year after year (see Twitter's 140 character limit) and so it is more important than ever to cut out the fluff and get right to the point. In short, while social media is truly an amazing tool for encouraging political discussion, it can also seem much simpler than it is. With a little research however, social media can help your campaign, and your voters, in the long run.

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The Purpose of This Blog

It is certainly old news that social media is changing the way that people interact, as well as the way in which we search for and find information. This trend seems to be especially prevalent in the world of politics, where the public is constantly looking for information, and the politicians are looking for new ways to deliver their message. 

Social Media gives politicians exactly that, a new place to show the masses what they are really all about. Many politicians have clamoured to create accounts on a variety of social media sites, from Facebook, to Twitter, with some even going to Vine or Instagram, anywhere that the public will receive their message. There is an ongoing battle amongst politicians from different parties over follower counts and numbers of likes. While these numbers may make you look better in the eyes of supporters, are they really worth anything?

Throughout this blog, I want to really create a dialogue as to what the goals and outcomes of political social media should be. Is it a campaign tool, or simply a way for constituents to have their voices heard? Let me know what you think!