Politicians and Social Media: What Politicos Need to Learn
Nearly every politician today is on social media in some way posting thoughts and campaign points. The results are sometimes embarrassing or controversial. This is because politicians do not always understand what is going on. Here are some things that politicians need to learn about social media. Restrict Access to Social Media Accounts The first thing politicians need to learn is to restrict access to all social media accounts. More than one politico of late has run into trouble because an intern or other unauthorized individual posted or did something really stupid on social media. Politicians should allow just one or two trusted people to access the accounts. Every Post Requires Approval Many problems have occurred for politicians who have posted outlandish or sometimes blatantly offensive things on social media. The politician usually responds by saying he or she never saw the posting and did not approve it. The solution is to require every post to get explicit approval from the politician. This can solve the problem although it might slow down fast social media responses to breaking events. Less is More A few politicos have decided to use social media as a kind of daily narrative or journal. These politicians are putting out massive amounts of posts to social media. Most of the posts are simply pointless or forgettable. Politicos have to learn that less is more when it comes to social media. The public and media are more likely to listen when social media posts contain meaningful information and not pictures of food.
Posts Should Be About the Audience A major mistake that politicians at all levels are making is to create posts about themselves instead of the audience. The eighty-twenty rule applies here. Around 80 percent of what is posted on social media should be about the audience, community or constituency. The other 20 percent can be about the politician or other things. This is going to make the politico’s posts much more interesting for people to read. It also shows genuine caring and understanding of the larger community. The Intricacies of Social Media Culture The final thing politicos need to learn is the way social media culture really works. Many of politicians online today think of social media as just another marketing platform. They fail to realize it is an interactive medium where constituents can reply to posts. Many politicians do not even understand the memes, acronyms and symbols that are commonly used online. Social media etiquette is often completely ignored. Politicos who want to be successful need to understand the intricacies of social media culture. Jay Sekulow is a counselor, an advocate, and a scholar from NYC.