Manufactured Usage vs. Actual Usage

As a politics major and someone who has met a fair share of politicians, I can honestly say that only a small fraction are “the real deal.” Many are interesting, some entertaining, but several times I find myself not 100% satisfied with what a candidate brings to the table. I guess in a way this is a good thing. After all, who wants to blindly follow someone? However, after a while of meeting a number of individuals, and learning more about the business, I find myself getting annoyed more frequently. Classmate Stephanie Brumfield summed it up very well in her article which addressed older people resisting new technology. This has become a frustration of mine as well, particularly with politicians who “fake it” and try to use new media to get votes.

The onset of the new media age has, of course, dramatically affected the political classes. Politicians need to master this form of media in order to reach voters and serve constituents. It’s no different from the invention of the television. When television was created, politicians needed advertising experts to master commercials. Television did away with some of the older, more classic, models of campaigning, such as going door-to-door, or trying to gain the support of unions to organize large numbers of voters. Television is not what it used to be. Viewership on the “big stations” is way down. People now have hundreds of channels to choose from and are no longer only concentrated on a few. And honestly, who watched commercials anymore with TIVO and DVR? Television is getting much less attention from candidates while new technology is. But with a television you actually had to be the candidate in the advertisement. You had to speak, interact, and make your case to the camera. With new media, the personal involvement of the candidate is not nearly as significant. A twitter update, a note on Facebook, a friending spree on Facebook, a follow request and the like, can all be manufactured through someone simply posing as the candidate. An intern sitting in the back office can take an impersonal statement handed to them, and put it online to make the candidate look like they are lively and active on new media.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz is a noted tweeter which Politico took note of in their recent article on the issue:
“There’s a method to the madness here,” Chaffetz says. “If you can break bread with somebody, if you can laugh with somebody, then you open up a door in order to talk to them seriously about public policy.” “It only works if you do it yourself,” Chaffetz told his colleagues. “If you have your staff [do Facebook and Twitter on your behalf], it’ll be lame, and everyone will know it. I really feel like most members do a pathetic job of being accessible and real to their constituents."

Chaffetz hits it right on the head. When using new media you must be REAL. Phoniness is very detectable.