Social media to engage youth support in politics

Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The NEW media offers an excellent opportunity for political leaders to galvanise youth support, according to Professor Steve McDowell of Florida State University (FSU).

"E-Politics is an area where young people can connect (with politicians). They can use some of these social-network sites as a way to connect with candidates of political parties and community groups," the United States-based educator said during a lecture at the University of the West Indies Western Jamaica campus in Montego Bay, St James, last week.

public lecture series

Professor McDowell was speaking on the topic: 'New Media and Social Economic Change: From Possibilities to Practices' during the inaugural public lecture series organised by the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication.

The professor, who is a director at FSU's School of Communication, further explained that similar to the type of political campaign that the Barack Obama-administration employed when he vied for the US presidency, leaders in Jamaica could also seek to learn from those lessons and add it to their method of reaching a wider cross section of the public.

"If you want to organise, for instance, a rally, some of these social media can be used to do that. Some of the media should be seen as hybrids, and not as substitutes for the normal way of communicating with members of the community or group because you still need that face-to-face interaction," he outlined.

broadcast their campaign messages

Leading up to the 2007 general election, the Jamaica Labour Party employed some avenues of social media such as Facebook and YouTube to broadcast its campaign messages.

McDowell encourages the use of new media platforms to propel political campaigns, while striking a balance with traditional mediums of communication.

"I think what will happen in politics is that the political parties or leaders who are good at organising those tools to mobilise individuals will probably raise the bar. So the next time you have an election or community campaign, they'll organise better," he said.

sheena.gayle@gleanerjm.com