A case of share and share a ‘like’
Remember ‘‘the worm’’? It’s a tool hated by politicians that is supposed to track the mood of undecided voters during a political debate.
With the explosion in social media, it’s on the endangered list.
What use is the worm when you’ve got Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snap Chat to track the public mood?
That moment when a fly landed on Hillary’s face (#HillaryFly), ‘‘bad hombres’’ memes, Trump sniffles. We’ve called so many elections the social media election it’s long lost its surprise value. But then someone finds a new way to use it that nobody was expecting.
Like the Trump camp’s livestream of Thursday’s debate through the Republican candidate’s Facebook page, complete with an alternative commentary team. Presumably they called it a win for the Don.
Whatever you see there, expect here. In 2014 it was the selfie election – 2017 will be our first Facebook campaign.
It’s not just a race for the best viral video or dank memes (yes, there is such a thing). It’s about the unparalleled access social media offers to voters’ hearts and minds and ‘‘likes’’ through their Facebook feeds. Big brother is taking notes and we willingly opened the door.
So it was no surprise when Justice Minister Amy Adams sounded the death knell this week for the old Soviet-style party political broadcasts that traditionally air on TV and radio at the start of every election campaign.
For those who need a refresher, the party political broadcasts are up to 20-minute-long political statements. State radio and TV are obliged to allocate broadcast time and taxpayers put their hand in their pocket to pay for the production.
These broadcasts had their heyday when the National Party’s infamous Dancing Cossacks ad did the 1970s equivalent of ‘‘going viral’’.
Thanks to a potent cocktail of spin, half-truths and a comical troupe of prancing Russians, it helped sweep the Labour government out of power.
But of course that was back in the day when we had only just got our second TV channel and having your own phone line was still a novelty for many who had been sharing a party line with the neighbours.
With MySky, Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and news at your fingertips these days,most voters probably would have missed it.
Audience numbers tell the story.
The opening addresses in the 2014 election campaign were down 25 per cent on usual, probably because they screened opposite an All Blacks test on a Saturday night. (But then, TVNZ wouldn’t have shunted them to that time slot if they were a ratings winner.)
Surprisingly, given those figures, politicians have still managed to put a dollar figure on how much they reckon all that ‘‘free’’ advertising is worth to them – $750,000.
Rather than forgo it, they’ve reallocated it elsewhere, primarily for online advertising.
Why give up a guaranteed (if shrinking) TV audience for one of those pesky online ads which people just swat away anyway?
Because it’s less about ads than likes, shares and engagement.
Take a look at Prime Minister John Key’s Facebook page and you’ll see why the politicians are so desperate to sink that money into digital, rather than a 20-minute-long party political broadcast.
A recent video of him poking around a special housing area got nearly 200,000 views and 271 shares.
A message to mums for Mother’s Day got 52,000 views.
National woke up to the power of Facebook and social media when Key posted a video outlining his support for a new flag, the Silver Fern. It got nearly 2 million views, a figure that blew the strategists and media teams away.
The flag video also acts as a cautionary tale, of course. Getting nearly 2 million views didn’t help Key win the argument to change the flag.
The power of the party political broadcast is not completely dead either – National’s advertisement depicting Opposition parties in a rowboat that went round in circles was devastatingly effective in 2014. But why not show it on Facebook rather than screen it on telly at a time when no-one is watching?
In this context, the Electoral Commission’s leeriness over the satirical Planet Key song in 2014 is understandable. It banned the video on the grounds it was an election ad, but has since been slapped by everyone from the Appeal Court down for an attack on free speech.
Given the potentially millions of views on social media, it’s not a stretch to imagine political parties circumventing the cap on election advertising by contracting out attack ads under the guise of satire.
But Facebook also offers unparalleled ways of getting to the core of what drives voters.
In its pitch to politicians it promises to help parties build email lists, raise money and activate people to support their campaigns.