MICRO BLOGGING - MACRO EFFECT

Humans are instinctively competitive creatures, and politicians (who some believe aren't human) take this to another level, always searching for new campaign methods to get a vote here or there, to gain any possible advantage over their opponent. The internet has birthed many great sources of information and communication, and the blogosphere has quickly become a domain for political messages through the form of microblogging.

Twitter, as Larrson and Moe explain, is "a derivative or miniature version of the regular blog” (2010, p. 730). It is restricted to only 140 characters, allowing only the most important parts of a message to be posted, and short enough to engage the reader's attention.




(Source: Blogger University)

Microblogging has become the persuasive political power it is today through the effects of globalisation. Rantanen defines this as "a process in which worldwide economic, political, cultural and social relations have become increasingly mediated across time and space" (2005, p. 8). It means, in the political context, microblogging allows almost everyone to follow political updates, and engage in discussions about them.

Twitter is a contemporary platform within the blogosphere that has generated an online public sphere, where people can access information and create discussions at their fingertips, which is why politicians have grasped its advantageous communicative characteristics.

(Source: Masters of Media)

As Gibson (2008, p. 15) states, technology, in this case microblogging, has become "a key driver of change in the electoral arena", and seems it is here to stay as a genuine campaigning method.

Politicians use Tweets "as vehicles of self-promotion"(Larrson & Moe, 2010, p. 734), especially during a campaign. Along with the dissemination of political information for the public to share and discuss, it allows the politician to monitor the reaction of the public and the effectiveness of their shared content.

Using Twitter reaches audiences that no other digital media may be able to. This applies to the younger generation, new voters who may not yet have a political opinion. Social media is something young people are very accustomed to, and if a politician can reach them through an informative tweet, it may sway their vote.

At this stage, politics in the blogosphere is a healthy addition as it currently provides information for those seeking it, and does not interfere with those who don't.




References:

Gibson RK, Lusoli W & Ward S 2008, 'Nationalizing and normalizing the local? A comparative

analysis of online candidate campaigning in Australia and Britain', Journal of Information Technology & Politics, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 15–30.

Larsson, A & Moe, H 2011, ‘Studying political microblogging: Twitter users in the 2010 Swedish election campaign,’ New Media and Society, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 729-747.

Rantanen, T 2005, Theorising Media Globalisation’, The media and globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1–18. 

Images:

http://bloggeruniversity.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/politics-and-the-power-of-social-media/

http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/2011/10/06/the-public-sphere-new-media-and-politics/

Links:

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/blogging-blogosphere-infographics/

http://mptweets.com.au/politicians/