Meet you on MySpace?

Mainstream politics often emerge from the radical fringes. Universal suffrage, the minimum wage and the new President of the US are examples. Some things take longer to work their way into the mainstream than Barack Obama but his campaign has lessons for UK politicians. Obama’s qualities clearly resonated with the US electorate but he also used every possible resource at his disposal to ignite passion and emphasise how politics can be connected to individuals. Technology allowed him to bypass the traditional media; by creating viral networks through YouTube and social networking sites, he was able to reach out to those that wouldn’t usually engage with political media. Using technology, he made politics personal and reached that most elusive group of voters the ‘young person’. By going to the places where they hang out on the internet, he made them feel as if he was one of them – a feat rarely managed by politicians.

The importance of making this connection should not be underestimated. The Hansard Society’s recent HeadsUp online forum showed that young people find it hard to see the link between formal political structures and their lives. One user said ‘children are put off by politics because all you ever see on the news is old people talking in the House of Lords or the House of Commons’. Another said she was embarrassed by Brown and Cameron’s behaviour at PMQs and their interest in scoring political points rather than discussing issues. Obama’s use of technologies with which young people are familiar, demonstrated that the gap can be bridged between formal politics and the issues young people care about.

So how do we translate the successful use of technology in the US into connecting politics and young people in the UK? Although almost a quarter of MPs currently use Facebook the potential for campaigning may be less obvious in a parliamentary democracy than in a presidential system. The technology is perhaps better suited to connecting MPs with their constituents throughout the parliamentary year.  From a democratic perspective it creates another channel of accountability but also brings the electorate closer to their representatives, making politics seem less distant.

Social networking could also help to rebuild the public perceptions of MPs as a group. When asked about their trust in MPs, the public are much more inclined to say that their own MP is trustworthy and valuable, than they are to say this about politicians as a group. Younger people are far less likely to have made up their minds about politics and politicians and those under 35 are the most willing to admit that they have a lot to learn about politics. Presenting an MP and their views in a way that young people can relate to on MySpace (note MySpace and not Facebook for the under 18’s) might actually bear fruit. HeadsUp forum users were in favour of their MP being on MySpace by a majority of 2:1. Those that were hesitant were mostly concerned about how their MP would present themselves, fearing that they may try to be too ‘down with the kids’ and would end up looking like the proverbial Dad at a disco. Just communicating is not enough, as has been found with much online engagement, it must be genuine, authentic and targeted to have the most beneficial effect. Communicating in diverse ways has greater consequences for MPs than simple popularity – if you are added as a friend on a social networking site you are surely more likely to be seen as ‘one of us’ and therefore viewed with less suspicion and cynicism.

Currently politicians put in the ground work with young people by visiting schools - social networking is an extension of this in a more informal, personal setting and has greater potential for ongoing engagement. Although young people are aware of the global impact of many issues and decisions they also have more invested in their local area than adults. This is partly because they are more constrained in their ability to move around. This makes the need for greater links between young constituents and their local MP even more important. Young people say they do not feel informed about how the political process works but are clear that they want to be involved in decisions that affect them: ‘politicians do not pay attention to us young people. They look down on us and point the finger at us whenever something is going wrong…Politicians should walk with us and involve us’. Creating a personal link between MPs and pre-voters, via social networking, could go some way to bridging this gap.

Beccy Allen, HeadsUp Manager