2014 is the year of another general election in New Zealand. In previous elections, social media has not played a very high profile role. But I suspect that will change this year. As social media has grown in importance over the last few years, political parties around the world have used it as a way to directly connect with voters, to side step the controlling influence of mass media and talk directly to voters.
New Zealand has lagged behind many of the other Western Liberal Democracies in the way political parties have used social media to influence voters. The Obama campaign in 2008 were one of the first to use wide spread social media. Out of that campaign grew Blue State Digital, who have gone on to advise a number of left wing parties around the world, including the New Zealand Labour party.
The point of this blog is to look at the use of social media, by parties, media and voters, and compare it to previous elections in New Zealand as well as elections and campaigns overseas. As part of this, I would be interested in anyone sending in links of stories/posts/comments they see online that they think would add to the conversation. These tips can be sent to politics@matthewbeveridge.co.nz.
An interesting way to look at it.
From my experience in the use of social media in national and local body politics I think it has some strengths and benefits but it’s far from a game changer or election changer.
As is the case elsewhere most people using social media are not interested in following politics, they use it far more for social purposes. For example I think most people are unaware of the existence of political blogs. This can be tested (unscientifically) by asking people what political blogs they know about, many simply don’t know they exist or at best have heard of one or two.
This was the case leading into the last election (Nek Minit got far more attention than any political social media) and I doubt it has changed much now.
It does definitely have some strengths and benefits, just like any form of communication. I agree it probably won’t have a huge impact on the election result. But, when used right, it does offer a new and innovative way to engage with voters. I have seen a number of people who are not “political” people engage in political debates on social media. Social media creates new influencers, with a wider reach than before. If people pushing a message can get influencers to engage, it increases the number of people they can reach.
Other things like Nek Minit will always get more attention, both in mass and social media. But social media offers a way for parties to circumvent mass media, and the filter they put on the news, and get direct contact with voters, and people who influence voters.