How Does Social Media Affect Political Parties

The rise of new information and communication technology has changed the way the political arena operates within Australia. Through adopting the use of social media and other forms of technological communication for example: Email, radio and TV, politicians and political parties have discovered new ways to market and extend their support networks. The un-regulation of social media, however, has stirred the pot in a negative way for most politicians, with public slander and criticism becoming a major challenge for political parties. Beyond this, the unauthorised release of private and confidential government information has the potential to cause controversy, creating discussion among the Australian community, which is considered undesirable

Although this method currently serves politicians and political parties well for the most part, it must be questioned however, to what extent could the Australian public be more involved if communication was more two-way. On another level, however, it can be argued that this one-way communication on social media is an effect of politicians and political parties using social media as a marketing mechanism for their political campaigns. Through investing in social media analysts who can build profiles of swing voters by analysing their Internet and social media behaviour, a politician can with this information, direct their own campaign in the direction of these voters (ABC, 2013). These profiles can be built through filtering what population and socio economic groups are concerned with in terms of their involvement in Facebook groups, and who they follow on Twitter (ABC, 2013). Despite this information being partially ‘meaningless’ in terms of its easier to like a page than what it is to become directly involved in the issue, it can be argued that peoples online lives are becoming just as instrumental in their mobility within the community as their non-virtual lives (ABC, 2013). Emma Lo Russo, chief executive of ‘Digiviser’ discussed the potential of ‘smart data analysis’ for politicians, outlining that social media analysis allows you to ‘really get to know the individuals, and if they’re influential in their community, on what issues are relevant to those people and what seats they will potentially vote on’ (ABC, 2013). This is a clear advantage of social media and new technology in relation to politicians and political parties, however they also present challenges to their credibility and public