I had a piece published this arvo on New Matilda about the varying levels of authenticity and skill with which politicians use social media:

Not Another Political Zombie

By Jason Wilson
Most politicians on Facebook and Twitter seem like animated corpses — but not Tasmania’s Premier, David Bartlett. And the difference is huge…

Read the rest at New Matilda.

Uncategorized DavidBartlett, facebook, NewMatilda, newspapers, OnlinePoliticalCommunication, SocialNetworking, Tasmania

There’s been a bit of discussion amongst political bloggers about a post by PollieGraph’s Rachel Hills which pointed out that Liberal leadership contender Malcolm Turnbull had her - and other journalists - on ‘limited profile’ on Facebook, because of her status as a writer for New Matilda (also noted over at Larvatus Prodeo). Some of the discussion about this has been fairly predictable - with the Libs plumbing untold lows in their approval ratings, it’s easy to engage in some gratuitous pollie-bashing - but for once, I have to say that Turnbull’s decision to keep the media at arms’ length from any online discussion with voters seems like a pretty smart move to me.

Rachel cites a Liberal Party source as saying this about Turnbull’s approach:

I don’t think there are many journos on his list at all because he wants people to be able to ask whatever they want, and for it to be natural. Well, as natural as Facebook ever can be.

If politicians are serious about consulting with citizens about their concerns, then at present this is for the most part best conducted directly between them, as an open conversation outside of the glare of the mainstream media. Importantly, real discussion and debate is not just about stating one’s own point of view, but also about changing one’s mind and accepting a superior argument when it is made. Media coverage, though, has an unhealthy tendency to report any such opinion changes - which should be part of politicians’ everyday activity as they are confronted with new information - as ‘embarrassing backflips’, ‘wavering’, and ‘caving in to pressure’ from political opponents; unfortunately, that instils a deep-set stubbornness in our pollies which is very difficult to overcome. (Even now, after a crushing defeat, many Liberals still can’t bring themselves to admit that Howard’s WorkChoices was a deeply unpopular, deeply flawed piece of legislation, for example.)

Read more…

Uncategorized e-democracy, facebook, journalism

So, I’ve been kicking around on Facebook lately. My colleagues have posted some interesting analysis of Facebook, which I am still thinking about. I like Facebook, in a way that I never got into Myspace. I’ve caught up with friends from highschool who I haven’t seen for years, even played scrabble with them, but there’s still that concern about privacy.

Anyways… This struck me the other day. I live on the Northside of Brisbane, so I was unsurprised when I got an invite to a Northside related Facebook group. Read more…

citizen journalism, social networking academic, citizen journalism, facebook, social bookmarking, social networking