Microblogging: the latest political dynamite

Politicians are always looking for a new way to campaign; the latest strategy to get through to the most people possible. The blogosphere has always been an effective place to disseminate information on a wide scale and now politicians have taken microblogging by storm. Orlorf Larsson and Moe say, “Twitter is often understood as a derivative or miniature version of the regular blog” (p. 730). The 140-character limit makes the information accessible and users can read several tweets in the blink of an eye.

Globalisation, as defined by Albrow, “refers to all those processes by which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single world society, global society” (cited in Rantanen 2005, p. 7). This global society, or global village, as it is known, allows the flow of information over a wide forum.

Technology, an integral aspect of globalisation, has brought the world closer. As Gibson says, “technology is often viewed as a key driver of change in the electoral arena” (cited in Olorf Larsson & Moe 2011, p. 731). The political party who employs the most sophisticated technology undoubtedly has the edge.

Twitter is the ‘latest and greatest’ way for politicians to get their message out to the people. Campaigning has gone wild, with social media playing a huge part in the voice of the people. Parties and statisticians are now also more easily able to predict the outcome of an election.

Social media has bred a generation that are obsessed with ‘updating’ all of their cyber friends on their every move. This means that people are now more open about who they are voting for. With so much of the population giving an indication of who they are going to vote for before election day, it inevitably changes the whole campaign.

Social media has gained respect in recent years, with a survey by George Washington University and Cision in 2009 revealing that 52 per cent of journalists “used Twitter for online research” (cited in Small 2011, p. 873). Scholar Jewitt also says that “Twitter can be a source of breaking news because it is ‘a real time global communications platform” (cited in Small 2011, p. 873).

Politicians can see how good their polls are and react accordingly—all products of globalisation and increased communication.

Using a social media site like Twitter enables politicians to access a totally new demographic. It is no doubt an advantage to be able to influence the fresh-faced 18-year-olds of the country who don’t have a whole horde of baggage concerning the political parties.

Study about social media affecting thoughts and decisions of (esp. young) people. Because our young people are so influenced by what people the media presents to them, hegemony is used by politicians to instil their own ideology into people’s minds.

References:

Image: Media Bistro 2013, ‘All Twitter’, retrieved 4 September 2013, <http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/chirpify-political-fundraising_b24602>.

ABC 2013, ‘Federal Election 2013’, retrieved 4 September 2013, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/opinion-polls/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=Corp_News-Elections-Federal-2013_AdWords_:election%20polls_e_g_33167047759_&gclid=CJj04q6vsbkCFcrGpAodFTUAAA>.

Olorf Larsson, A & Moe, H 2011, ‘Studying political microblogging: Twitter users in the 2010 Swedish election campaign,’ New Media and Society, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 729-747.

Rantanen, T 2005, ‘Theorizing Media and Globalization’, The Media and Globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1-18.

Small, T A 2011, ‘What the hashtag?’, Information, Communication & Society, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 872-895, retrieved 4 September 2013, <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2011.554572>.

Twitter 2013, ‘Twitter’, retrieved 4 September 2013, <https://twitter.com/search?q=Australianelection&mode=relevance&src=typd>.