The use of Twitter in the two most recent Australian federal elections point to a dramatic shift in how Australians form, discuss and disseminate their political thoughts. As Bruns and Burgess discuss 'while the 2007 Australian federal election was notable for the use of social media by the Australian Labor Party in campaigning, the 2010 election took place in a media landscape in which social media (especially Twitter) had become much more embedded in both political journalism and independent political commentary' (2011, p.1).
This shift from online campaigning in 2007 to online discussion and interaction in 2010 and especially 2013 through tools such as Twitter represent the future in political campaigning, political journalism and political commentary, as the 2013 Australian Federal election has shown.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his predecessor Kevin Rudd presented very public fronts throughout their campaign through their Twitter profiles. This is a stark comparison to the political landscape we have come to know all too well, where every single little move or word is stage managed and run through publicists and media managers as to avoid gaffes and mistakes.
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| KRudd selfie. Via Kevin Rudd Twitter @KRuddMP |
Although this is a massive step into the future and something that will no doubt be a part of modern politics for years to come, the real advancement in regards to twitter is what it gives to the everyday political punter.
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| My take on the election |
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Media coverage of the election and it's lead up was heavily saturated with user generated content through twitter, particularly on channel 9, who used it as a large part of their election night coverage, constantly scrolling tweets along the bottoms of the screen and occasionally giving closer attention to ones from prominent journalists, sportspeople, politicians during their broadcast. This is a significant change from traditional news-casting because it incorporates the views of the viewer, rather than just the views of the broadcaster, which obviously offers a massive opportunity for people (whoever they may be) to voice their opinions, whatever they may be.
References
Bruns, A & Burgess, J 2011 'Ausvotes : how Twitter covered the 2010 Australian federal election'. Communication, Politics and Culture, 44 (2), p 1.
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