Politicians must be cautious on social media

Three of the nation’s legislators recently received training in Costa Rica on how to handle social media. The trainers reportedly urged the legislators to make a clear distinction between their political duties and their private life when using social media.

The chairwoman of Parliament, Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, pointed out during the discussions that she could make a clear distinction especially on Facebook.

The chairwoman is very active on Facebook but because of the huge flow of information, she has a team that helps her process all the information. Sebastian de Lara Gomis, one of the trainers, urged the chairwoman and other participants to be very cautious when posting pictures. He recommended posting pictures that are representative and which could be copied by the mainstream media. The trainers explained that social media could be used to remain in contact with the people. Through the interaction on social media citizens can also actively make a contribution to the parliamentary work.

In the face of negative comments and attacks, usually from trolls or bots, it is suggested to resist the urge to respond immediately and first confirm whether the account or accounts generating the negative content are real. Reviewing the profile information and recent activities of these accounts is a way to check their authenticity; and if they are fake, it is recommended to ignore or delete the comments. If the negative comments are from citizens, in general, it is recommended to respond in a diplomatic way. This not only allows parliamentarians to address and understand users who are against their position or a measure taken, but it also offers the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of the issue in question and turn negative comments into possible new followers. Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, MP Raymond Sapoen and MP Jitendra Kalloe attended the training which was part of the ParlAmericas’ 2nd Gathering of the Open Parliament Network. ParlAmericas membership is composed of the national legislatures of the 35 independent states of the Americas. To observe a balance in regional representation, the hemisphere has been divided into the following four sub-regions: North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean. ParlAmericas exercises significant influence in hemispheric dialogue on key common issues raised by parliamentary institutions and their members.