Let me say something from the outset: I love elections. There is something twisted inside me that loves the frenetic energy of a good election campaign, the hint of change in the most base human competitions. I am no psephologist*. I love my elections for the drama and farce. Being a child of the MTV generation (thank you Bart Simpson) i have no concept of what elections were like pre-internet, when you actually had to engage in a debate for more than 3 seconds and sound bytes were broadcast nightly to the family wireless.
The internet is an election junky’s wet dream. The proliferation of social media sites and its predecessor, the good old anonymous hack website, has changed the way elections are run. Like it or not, that’s the reality of beast today. And thank god for that.
This election is the most mind numblying boring election i have ever had the (dis)pleasure of witnessing. Perhaps it is because i have removed myself from the party machine this year, but i am finding this election seriously dull. Most people would agree there is a severe policy vacuum and the offensive behaviour is out of control. Thankfully the internet is there to keep me entertained and amused in the lead up to d-day.
In light of this week’s implosion this week, i thought i would take a look at how election campaigns are fought online. Before i examine a few examples of internet campaigning backfiring during an election cycle, it is worth reading this little guide put together by e.politics. 6 Questions a Candidate Should Ask before Tweeting, Blogging or Posting a Status Update covers what seems to most people to be completely obvious: Would i say this to a reporter? Would i say this to an opponent? Is this TMI (Too Much Information)?
Politicians are a flawed humans like the rest of us, but it never ceases to amaze me how they can too easily get lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to using the internet. As these examples show, they should be even more aware when using the internet, not less, if not simply because tiny f*ck up can instantly be cut and pasted across the internet for all to see.
This week’s case was an absolutely classic. Wendy Francis (@wendy4senate), a Family First Senate candidate in Queensland, this week started a firestorm, tweeting this doozy: “Children in homosexual relationships are subject to emotional abuse. Legitimising gay marriage is like legalising child abuse”. After all hell broke lose on the site, including a classic tweet from @mariekehardy (At least I stand by my tweets Wendy Francis, you vicious, cowardly fuck. http://tinyurl.com/27mbrvm), Wendy removed the offending tweet. Sadly for Wendy the damaged had been done, with mainstream media going bananas. Wendy has since apologised for her “slip up“, offering a pallid apology whilst inexplicably mentioning the fact she had “given blood”. Luckily for Wendy, her party seemed unconcerned by this kind of behaviour and she is still on the senate ticket.
Others have been less lucky, who, after having made an online faux pas, have found themselves disendorsed and dumped before they have had time to take down *those* embarrassing photos from Facebook.
Hamish Jones is a sad example of this in action. During the 2007 Federal election, the Liberal endorsed candidate for the safe Labour seat of Maribyrnong posted a rant online about then State Public Transport Minister, Lynn Kosky, calling her a “bitch” and “f—wit” on his personal blog. Although many people had perhaps uttered similar sentiments of a morning when their train had been canceled, not all of them were running for a Federal seat. Hamish was forced to resign his candidacy, but not before The Age had trawled through his unlocked Facebook to retrieve this classic photo of Jones in Sombrero, conjuring up more of a uni student bogan feel, rather than serious conservative candidate.
The NSW Liberal has also disendorced another candidate in this year’s election for making anti-muslim comments on his Facebook site. David Barker has vowed to run as an independent after his comments that the Labour candidate was “a strong Muslim” and was helping to bring Australia ”closer to the hands of a Muslim country”. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Liberal party had this to say: ”Mr Barker has not conducted himself in a way that the Liberal Party expects of its candidates.”
I’ll leave you a piece published by The Age examining whether the mind-numbing qualities of this election has anything to do with the dumbing down of the election into 140 characters on Twitter. No comment.
*look this word up and use it your next dinner party. Sure to impress!
Leave a comment