Political Social Media
Social media is universal, different platforms, different languages and as we get stuck into the year 2017 it’s clear that it’s here to stay. Primarily it is used by individuals such as you and me to communicate, connect and collaborate with friends and family and even has the capability of introducing us to new friends that we never knew we needed. What about the government agencies? How does social media effect or benefit the political sector? This blog I intend to touch on those exact matters.
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The public sector utilise Social Media in many ways for many reasons. Currently, people can be reached a lot faster via social media instead of waiting until the 6 o’clock news. One post from NZTA telling people to avoid a route due to a ‘slip’ or earthquake damage for example, its seen by all those who like their page, then every time someone shares or likes the post, it’s awareness booms very quickly and eventually explodes where geographically appropriate. Businesses use social media for our benefit and there’s. It’s about the quality of the relationship, not the quantity or the fan base.
Let’s wind the clock back a smidge to when ex-president Barack Obama became a presidential candidate. In February 2007, Barack Obama claimed he will run for president in the 2009 election. He was a strong candidate and utilised social media for his fundraising and overall success, all the way to the oval office. Now let’s fast track 7 years to our latest debate between Donal Trump and Hilary Clinton for the 2016 election.
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Boy, have we seen some interesting tweets, videos and posts from this election. Both candidates fired shots at each other via social media. Something we haven’t ever seen before. It’s almost as if they were both given accounts and told to go nuts, with no one there to regulate them. At the end of the day, these controversial public postings got people talking, sharing, connecting and for now President Trump got him the votes he needed. This is a prime example of political members using social media for their benefit. By communicating with their voters on the voter’s platforms and promoting their campaigns and their promises, the candidates could grow their brand, their awareness and harness all that social media has to offer. However, depending on the game being played, quantity isn’t always best. It needs to be balanced with quality. You can have the most fans/friends, but unless you have a quality relationship with them, you can’t expect to get them to do something for you, such as vote.
While Social media can be all fun and games, even in the tightest of times like the election last year, by using another channel for good purposes, you also open the potential risk and another channel for hackers to attempt to gain obtain sensitive information or take over the account entirely. If for some unknown reason, the security surrounding the account is cracked, hackers could post anything they please, take whatever they want and potentially kill any campaign or cause being supported.
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Food for Thought – How many things do you “Log into” with your Facebook account. While it appears very convenient, what would happen if someone gain access to your Facebook? Not only do they have access to your account, they now have access to all other platforms you “log into” with Facebook. Take one, take em all!
Personal or public personal data should be kept well away from these types of channels for exactly this purpose. As technology evolves so do the people using it, after all we are the creators. New technology allows hackers new ways of obtaining information. Sensitive information that can be damaging to anyone. By regulating political social media accounts, these types of situations can be almost null and void.
Thanks for viewing my blog, until next time!
Brok Milligan
16092592
I'd absolutely love your feedback. Please by all means be harsh. Yes, design wise I can make it look pretty. However content wise, never blogged properly before in my life!
All a learning game, never the less we're all in the same boat or in this case the same paper!
PLEASE NOTE: This is a blog for the purpose of a Massey University paper and is part of an assignment.