The Political Tweethearts

Since the introduction of twitter in 2006, it is safe to say that the social networking site has undoubtedly flown the nest (excuse the pun). For anyone who is not a ‘tweetheart’, it is a blogging website that allows users to send and read messages of 140 characters, which are known as ‘tweets’. With the news last week that David Cameron has finally embraced twitter, he has clearly disregarded his remarks that ‘too many tweets might make a tw*t.’ While some people are pleased that the Prime Minister has embraced the 21st century development, the torrent of abuse received by his account in the first few days also shows otherwise. It begs the question, does twitter have a role in the political world?

One man that is clearly in favour of the social networking site is the President of the USA. The mighty Barack has amassed a noteworthy 20.5 million followers on the site and commentators often note that a huge amount of his electoral support is from online users. Politicians are now recognising twitter as an increasingly valid form of communication with the public. The instantaneous messages enable them to gain immediate reactions on questions, policy ideas and how they run the country. The recent televised presidential debate was the most tweeted event in American political history. Although we may not have embraced twitter as much as across the pond, David Cameron’s account had attracted over 100,000 followers in just four days. At a time when political participation, especially in the UK, is at an all time low, the huge amount of people that are showing their interest on the site is surely a good thing.

Moreover, twitter is becoming one of the best sources for delivering news in real time. While your recently tweeted photo of last night’s ‘experimental dinner’ is unlikely to make the headlines, news stories are now breaking on twitter faster than they are on our TV screens. The tragic death of Michael Jackson in 2008 was trending on Twitter before any news station had reported it. Today’s hashtags are tomorrow’s news. This gives tweeters an incredible amount of political power, a power they do not realise they even have. If twitter continues to play an important role in the future, it questions the role of Prime Ministers Questions. Why do we need a weekly show to hold the government to account when it can be done in a second on the social networking site?

However, there is a downside to expressing political opinion on twitter; the limited amount of characters and the role of hash tags force people into taking one of two sides, when in reality opinions are not this polarised. There have even been conspiracies that twitter is run by journalists and that certain hash tags are censored from the site. Moreover, not every individual in the world has a twitter account; the views expressed on twitter are from an arguably select audience. Call me crazy if your grandparents regularly tweet about their daily musings, but this is not the norm. A large proportion of twitter users are of a younger age group meaning that the opinions expressed on the site are not representative of an entire public. In India, 80 per cent of users are male and thus it cannot be used as a true indicator of public opinion when it is not entirely representative.

Furthermore, do we really want politicians on twitter? Isn’t it a bit like our parents trying to get down with the kids or turning up to a party which they definitely weren’t invited to. Politicians do not have the greatest track record for being honest with the public; so it is hard to imagine that limiting their statements to 140 characters will give them any more of an incentive to cough up the truth. After Cameron’s debut tweet promised he would not send ‘too many tweets’, many users where quick to suggest that family man Dave has not exactly upheld many of his other promises. We also should not be so naive to believe that David Cameron, and many of the other 125 heads of state that have an account on twitter, actually do the tweeting themselves; quite frankly, it might be more of a concern if we thought the Prime Minister was spending hours composing witty tweets, as opposed to running the country.

Whether you love it or hate it, the arrival of twitter has undoubtedly changed the political landscape, perhaps forever. In terms of indicating public opinion and delivering greater transparency in the political world, it is clearly a useful platform. It is inspiring a whole new generation of people to take an interest in politics and tweet about the issues that they see as important. The arrival of politicians on twitter is a more contentious issue. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they are condemned for rejecting technology if they do not have an account, but inundated with abuse if they do. Whatever your view, don’t underestimate the power of your political tweets; you may even get a reply from Dave himself. So keep tweeting political tweethearts!