Digital Technology and Communications Jobs: Politics

In 2011, Egyptian protesters connected using Facebook

Image credit: Essam Sharaf (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Over the past decade, politicians have increasingly discovered the importance of developing digital communications skills to leverage the power of social media and other digital communications in a hyperspeed world of 24/7 news coverage, truncated news cycles, and sound-bite culture. By the same token, citizens have also discovered the power of such tools in helping them mobilize against oppressive governments and in support of policies or campaigns they back. Vatikiotis (2014) writes that "the newer communication and civic habits developed along the various aspects of engagement in networked media practices [...] apply to a broader understanding of the concept of 'the political'" (p. 301)—in other words, new media are not merely enabling political action, but also changing the very nature of the social order.

The Democratizing Influence of Digital Media

The significance of emerging electronic communications media on the political process and democracy has become evident with the role social media in particular have played in recent global events:

A recent report by PEW found signs that social networks may be encouraging younger people to get involved in politics. You only need look at Twitter's recent impact on the Iran elections, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and even the election of Barack Obama to see that more and more people are getting involved in politics and are feeling they can make a difference. (Laurie, 2010, para. 9)

Technology's Role in the Arab Spring Protests (FORA.tv)

By giving voice to those who may have felt marginalized in the past, new communications technologies are empowering average citizens to become more involved and diminishing individuals' apathy and cynicism. In some cases, they are permitting oppressed peoples to circumvent the state-imposed censorship and information control that has kept them subjugated, helping rebel groups orchestrate the overthrow of despotic regimes.

Digital Campaigning 101: Politicians Learn to Harness the Web

Successful politicians have always required excellent communications skills; they need to effectively share their message and cultivate their public persona in order to be elected in the first place, and their public servant roles entail extensive dialog with constituents, lobbyists, and fellow politicians in committees, hearings, and other deliberative sessions. Within the past few election cycles, politicians have found it imperative to get training on how to use new media tools in their campaigns—or at least to recruit members of their campaign staff who do.

Graphic credit: Chris Visco

Johnson, Zhang, Bichard, & Seltzer (2011) note that 2008 was heralded as "the Facebook Election where the top-down style of political campaigning was replaced by the grass-roots dynamic of online social networks, particularly Facebook and YouTube" (p. 185). Barack Obama in particular recognized the potential of social media and video, recruiting a campaign team adept with digital tools in order to create YouTube videos spreading his message, emails and social media solicitations of donors, and a website that not only outlined his platform but also helped mobilize volunteers. Although his challengers, most notably Hillary Clinton and John McCain, likewise attempted to tap into the power of new media, "Political observers indicated that Obama had a dominating presence on social network sites and used them as a mechanism to get people involved in his campaign" (Johnson et al., 2011, p. 201). Obama had an even stronger advantage in the 2012 election (see graph). Going forward, politicians who wish to be serious contenders for office need to learn from and improve upon the social networking and digital media techniques used in the most recent election cycles.

Recap

Social networking sites and digital media are not just for sharing amusing cat videos; they are unsettling the political process and toppling regimes. Individual citizens are learning to organize, communicate, and educate themselves through these new channels, and politicians are using them to mobilize support and generate interest in their campaigns.

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References

Johnson, T., Zhang, W., Bichard, S., and Seltzer, T. (2011). United we stand? Online social network sites and civic engagement. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), A networked self: Identity, community, and culture on social network sites (pp. 232-250). New York: Routledge.

Laurie, M. (2010, January 7). How social media has changed us. Mashable.com. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/01/07/social-media-changed-us/

Vatikiotis, P. (2014). New media, democracy, participation and the political. Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture, 5(3), 293-307. doi:10.1386/iscc.5.3.293_1