Digital PR and Politics: Part II

In my blog post entitled ‘Digital PR and Politics’ I discussed the way in which the internet and social media has ultimately changed how General Elections are won. However, how messaging is produced and distributed is not the only factor of political campaigning which has been changed through the enhancement of digital media.

As digital media can produce and circulate material so quickly, it has the additional benefit of reducing the advantage of political parties with larger financial budgets. This largely assists smaller parties and independent candidates attempting to fight their way into Westminster, gaining them instant media exposure.

While I have discussed the Conservative Party’s use of social media in the 2015 General Election, it was Nigel Farage and UKIP that dominated Google searches, according to Dr Fillippo Trevisan and Dr Paul Reilly. Social analytics firm BirdSong also discovered that during the election period, the Party’s engagement rate was 87 per cent, compared to the Conservative Party’s Conservative nine per cent – although it is worth pointing out that this does not differentiate between positive and negative engagement.

Political campaigning has traditionally focused on working the news cycle. Prior to the substantial use of social media, the day’s political message would be briefed to the press in the morning with the hope that it would fill the news agenda throughout the day. Digital media allows for that cycle to be interrupted in response to live announcements and political activity.

Political parties can now, almost instantly, push out an opposing view to any given political situation in an attempt to steal the headlines. If you visit the Twitter account of any given UK political party, you will find streams of recent news articles being shared with that party’s line on the issue.

Alongside this, Members of Parliament, and even Government Ministers, can take to social media to make instant policy announcements in time for the evening news, even before they are formally announced by the Government. Michael Gove, for example, recently took to Twitter to announce that he had “formally confirmed the UK will not extend the transition period & the moment for extension has now passed.” In some cases, a press release will not be issued and the story will be built around the 280-characters issued from the respective Twitter account.

 

What does all this mean for public relations?

While it can only be a good thing that digital media allows the public to instantly access this information, studies in the US have found that some 46 per cent of adults feel “worn out” by the number of political posts they see on social media. In fact, the Pew Research Center found that across every demographic group, there is more exhaustion than excitement over seeing political content on social media.

Although public relations practitioners, organisations and political parties, both large and small, are finding it ever easier to promote their viewpoints across social media, they must be cautious. The public want to know what is going on in the world and deserve the opportunity to scrutinise the decisions which effect their lives. However, with the rise of anti-establishment sentiment, caution must be taken, in order to keep the reputation of all, to not tire the public.

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