Who Vex Lorse – Social media soapbox

The conversation was prompted by his observation that even Governments, which were initially reluctant to do so, had begun to take serious notice and incorporate social media into their own day-to-day actions. Sniderman further observed that while their initial stance kept politicians on the defensive, enough time had passed that individual politicians and even entire governments were starting to use social media to connect with their communities in new, open ways…some with greater success than others.

In the United States, for example, social media has had a strange role as both kingmaker and career wrecker. For every social media success story like President Barack Obama’s 2008 grassroots campaign, there is another of a career-crippling gaffe, like Weinergate, when New York Representative, Anthony Weiner, accidentally tweeted a picture of his crotch.

Social media, and particularly Twitter, have become a type of soapbox in America, on which many politicians are able to speak directly to their constituents. The US White House itself has taken to social media to help push some of its initiatives. President Obama recently once held a Twitter town hall where he received and answered questions through Twitter and pledged to start tweeting from his own official account. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook have also been used in presidential debates and forums. The White House even set up several verified Twitter accounts for state entities such as the Secret Service and an official account for the White House Press Secretary. Social media has become a place where politicians, large and small, can register their support in a public way, for example, when Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Rep Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn, called for the release of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei from police custody.

America’s northern neighbour has also been taking advantage of social media. Most Canadian politicians have a social presence, which they or their teams manage. Even some governmental departments in Canada have been taking steps to integrate social media into their actual government operations. Their Department of Research and Innovation for the province of Ontario, wanted to find a way to bring the public into relevant discussions. The goal, according to a department spokesperson, was to try, “to get ahead of the curve of a generation of social media users who more and more see social media as a way of affecting social change.” He added, “People are engaging with social policy in a way that they haven’t before and government will either adjust or be adjusted.”

Social media played a huge role in Canada’s 2011 federal election but exposed the harsh reality that, by itself, social media still cannot win an election. It was widely thought that the country’s liberal party leader, Michael Ignatieff, owned the social space. “Every instant of every day we were completely absorbed, in addition to all the other aspects of campaigning that haven’t changed, we were involved with what people were saying in the Twitterverse,” a member of Ignatieff’s social media team explained. Twitter became a branch of the media arm which required monitoring and attention. Questions that appeared on social sites needed to be treated the same as traditional media calls. “Political figures can’t work without engaging their constituents using social media,” the aide said. “It’s an expectation as much as it’s an opportunity. It’s changing the onus from working for people to working with people.” Still, that didn’t stop Ignatieff losing by a wide margin.

North America isn’t the only place where social media is making its way into the government. Facebook was launched in Russia in January 2010. Since then the number of users in that country grew by almost 400 percent – most of them under age 27. A global study showed Russia had the most engaged social networking audience in the world. Its former President, Dmitri Medvedev, visited Twitter’s offices where he created an account and sent out his first official tweet. He is now a prolific user with more than half a million followers across four verified accounts. His tweets were as much a way of sharing updates on the government as they were about humanizing the president and the trend expanded across Russia’s government.

Since its first venture into social media, the Russian Government has been able to participate in meetings of the Presidential Commission for Modernization and Technological Development of Russia’s Economy through online tools. When discussions came up around a new law on police, the government created a forum where people could post comments and connect their social networks.

Despite its growing popularity among major governments, social media hasn’t always been sunshine and roses. Questions of censorship have come up even in governments where free press and public media have been encouraged. In France, for example, the government banned the use of the words “Twitter” and “Facebook” on broadcast news saying that it constituted unsolicited advertising.