co-written with Bev Clack and published on the Labour Left website December 2013 http://www.labourleft.co.uk/top-ten-tips-for-labour-tweeters-by-bevclack-and-magsnews/
The next election will be the social media election.
Don’t take our word for it: Labour’s Michael Dugher, in charge of communications for the 2015 election campaign made this clear last weekend.
This is exciting – it has the power to take out of the campaign the Tories advantage in terms of a traditional broadcast and print media that is largely hostile to Labour. The influence of big budgets for campaigns is also likely to be less significant in achieving electoral victory in a multimedia age.
But there is also a challenge here to which Labour activists and supporters must rise. As Dugher says, “People have turned off and tuned out of politics. The big challenge for all of us is to change the way we communicate.”
One of the most powerful tools in this changed form of communication will undoubtedly be twitter. Twitter has proved itself to be a power for good and ill, as Labour bloggers like Emma Burnell have pointed out in recent discussions of the way it has been utilised to promote misogyny and bullying
.
A powerful tool, indeed; and one that for political campaigning can be used effectively and ineffectively.
To this end, Labour activists - and particularly the party’s MPs and the central party machine – need to learn how to use it to the best advantage.
At the moment, the party and its MPs could do with some concerted lessons on how best to use it. There are some MPs who have got it totally: step forward the MP stars of the medium: Tom Watson, Jamie Reed, Stella Creasy, Ed Balls and Teresa Pearce. All of them, in different ways, could run Masterclasses for the rest about how to use it well.
The Labour Press Office, too, has a way to go in learn how to tweet well.
At the risk of sounding like we are moving into consultancy, here are Mags and Bev’s Top Ten Tips for Labour Tweeters:
1 Hashtags matter
This is vital if you are not just to be speaking to yourself and your followers – who, we suspect, are likely to be singing from the same lefty hymn sheet. For example, #bedroomtax #poverty #NHS #EtonSchool #childcare – all hashtags that will connect you to others concerned about these issues.
2 Resist the urge to parrot the party line
It simply confirms the view that most people have of politicians as unimaginative clones. Put things in your own words: after all, it is always better to speak for yourself than mouth the words of others.
3 Keep it real
If you really want to connect with people it is no good coming across as a party hack. People rightly want more from their representatives. We might bemoan the fact that we live in a celebrity age. But – as feminists have known for years – ‘the personal is political’, so express your thoughts and interests from time to time: it reminds others that you are human.
4 Use the speed of Twitter to rebut allegations and to push Labour stories.
Tweet links that show where the government are misleading the public. And here the Labour Press Office must be much more proactive. An idea that emerged after this week’s PMQs was for a fact check of Cameron’s dodgy claims. This should be quickly available for activists and MPs to use before a story gets out of hand.
5 Have a list of sources to combat the government’s misinformation
Information is power, and we are all, doubtless, aware of how the government consistently uses misinformation to spread their message of how successful their policies are. One Labour twitter account has recently been established which provides factual information to assist in challenging the lies and half-truths used by the government: and this is @EvidenceUK. Let’s flood them with something they won’t like - the truth!
6 Hashtag your constituency
This is a good way of getting the message across to those who need to know what you and Labour stand for – in other words, the people who will vote for you and for Labour.
7 Engage in conversations with people
Don’t just ignore every tweet that comes your way. Politics is discursive and in engaging with people it helps to show how Labour is relevant to people’s lives.
8 Don’t feed the trolls
Don’t waste too much time communicating with those who have no interest in a proper conversation. They are out to waste our time and prevent us from doing what we need to do to get Labour elected.
9 Avoid tweeting when tired and emotional
While it is tempting to think that this is precisely the best time to tweet, it probably doesn’t help the party’s cause. One important thing to remember - perhaps not peddle unsubsantiated claims.. Probably best not to tweet when you’ve had one drink too many, feel hungry, just had a row, or are unhappy with your energy bill… Let’s be positive - this way we can win!
10 Don’t expect someone else to get Labour’s message out
Cameron might not use this discredited phrase anymore, but when it comes to campaigning in this new world, we are all in this together, and the communication of the party’s message will be down to all of us
Today, Ed Miliband launched his ‘election war room’, setting out the party’s plans to make this a campaign based on social media and the more traditional tools of grassroots campaigning.
And for Labour to win, all of us - MPs, councillors, activists and supporters - have got to get much more savvy about the media tools open to us than we are at present.
No comments:
Post a Comment