Who/what will be 2010s key influencer’s? In the run up to the General Election maybe it will be the highs (and no doubt lows) of politics and politicians. This time we have political ‘news’ and ‘views’ via their Twitter feeds. Here’s the crunch. First are we really that interested in what they tweet? @StephenFry certainly fell foul of public disinterest and despite being one of the ‘most influential’ peeps on Twitter, his updates were labelled as ‘boring’ and he as ‘inconsequential’. What flies in eyes of political appeal is that They (the politicians) stand already on the side of being ‘boring’ and no doubt ‘inconsequential’. Thus, for them, there is less pressure to be like Fry and remain witty and charming in 140-characters. Charmed. We are not. Nosey. Perhaps.
As the election unfolds, will ‘social networks’ be the 21st century version of canvassing and door-knocking. COULD our Facebook and Twitter feeds be facing potential political meltdown/fatigue in the run up to voting?
Already the House of Commons has debated the use of tweets…Perhaps the advice for any politician thinking of tweeting to raise their profile is to use a disclaimer;
‘These are my views. If you don’t like them, I have others.’
Look AWAY now…
In the main if politicians tweet, to whom are they intending to hook anyway? Certainly not the floating votes of the ‘yoff of today’ who view Twitter as something for ‘old folk’ and ‘housewives’ who like to follow Phillip Schofield, @Schofe, as one such individual of yoff persuasion reminded me over the weekend. Nor the hard at work blue collar workers who ‘wouldn’t waste time’ with ‘that rubbish’. Perhaps then the Twitter is best served as a journo dream to capture political spin and gaffs by those who think they are communicating with interested masses, but really their politically loaded updates fail to fuel interest. Unless it comes with a TwitPic and that secretary…
BUT, there has been some Politwit success and even political savvy displayed by Government. @SarahBrown10 has already charmed mumsnet and has 1,118,548 Followers (+1 more (me) as of this morning) on Twitter. @DowningStreet, the ‘official’ Twitter channel for the PMs office also has its fair share with 1,738,961 Followers.
Does Mr Brown tweet? Unlikely. Instead Mark Flanagan, Head of Digital Communications is also Head of Tweeting.
Last year, @SarahBrown and @DowningStreet showed much needed public support to the NHS when they joined a Twitter campaign defending our pbulic health service from attacks by US Republicans in their criticism of President Barack Obama’s American healthcare reforms (@BarackObama who also incidently has a Twitter feed. As does his wife, @MichelleNews). Twitter crashed with the volume of messages for the #welovethenhs campaign, with @SarahBrown stating “#welovethenhs — more than we can say”.
Tweeting. Not a complete waste of energy for politicians. But only if done with poise, wit, charm and underscores political principles. Everything politicians are famed for finding hardest to employ.In relation to politicians on Twitter, perhaps this is what Groucho Marx foresaw when he uttered,
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.”
As Twitter continues to herald the era of short, swift and rapid-fire communication, no doubt we will see more revelations tweeted out and repeated through the media. On the one hand, this tweeting will create and sustain noise in the love-hate relationship between politics, the public and the press. On the other, it may just get us to (change(?)) votes.
Tweet on.
About Dr Mariann Hardey
I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.
