Photo courtesy of Kexino
Earlier this summer, the 13th Heartland Monitor Poll (HMP) Briefing titled “Networked Nation: How Technology & Social Media Are Transforming the Economy,” examined how social media has changed the individual’s relationship to government and business. Not surprisingly, the poll showed that social media has saturated our society. The use of social media transcends demographic boundaries—although social media users tend to be young and educated relative to the general population, their data is nearly indistinguishable. In a rather critical example of this, 57 percent of the total population polled believes the country is headed in the wrong direction. When looking only at social media users, 56 percent answered the same.
Shaping Political Experiences
Interestingly, these similarities extend to how people share their political experiences—positive or otherwise. People are much more likely to express political opinions verbally than online, regardless of whether or not they identify as a social media user. While 72 percent of the total population (75 percent of social media users) reacted to a negative government experience by having “talked about in person with friends, family or acquaintances,” only 26 percent of social media users posted something it on social media (only 18 percent of the total population). This is not to say that social media has not intersected with politics. Over half of social media users agreed with the HMP statement,
“The vast information from campaigns, elected officials, political commentators and other Americans about policies and issues on social media has made it easier to be a well-informed citizen.”
These numbers get at what I found to be the most surprising conclusion of the briefing—that although social media is popular and pervasive, the political conversation is still heavily lopsided as a large proportion of people view social media as simply another broadcasting platform for politicians. In fact, only 18 percent of the population agreed that elected officials use social media to more easily interact with voters and collect feedback. On the other hand, about three-fourths of social media users believe elected officials use social media to “more easily advertise their campaigns and positions.” While people do not trust politician’s motives for using social media, they still believe this presence is helpful and informative.
Shaping Political Change
Whether social media users are correct in these assumptions is hard to say. Certainly, part of the advertising strategy for some politicians and businesses include social media. In other cases, however, social media plays an integral role in major political change. Social media played a hugely important role in the Arab Spring, and it was a transformative fundraising platform in the 2008 presidential elections.
What separates the successful social media strategies from the rest is the ability to actively engage with the social media user. Politicians and organizations receive millions of “likes” on Facebook by creating events, mobilizing supporters, and having two-way conversations with other users. The HMP suggests, however, that regardless of the pervasiveness of social media, people still prefer to engage with real people, and not a Twitter handle. A successful political campaign—regardless of its social media strategy—should keep this in mind.