Technology has impacted our lives in every aspect, including the world of politics. The internet has changed the way people interact and communicate with each other. With close to the entire population actively using their mobile phones or social media, politicians can’t miss out on the use of technology in their campaign strategy. Move over traditional media, make way for digital advertising and advanced technology!
Wondering how politics are affected by the use of technology? Here are five ways how our political game has changed ever since the birth of new technology:
1. Information Is Accessible Everywhere
In the previous years, political candidates and parties were required to get their message across with the use of traditional media such as radio, speeches, television and printed media. Traditional media could reach a wide audience while also acting as a way to provide a personality or credibility to a politician or political party. Nowadays, information can be shared with just a simple status update. Not to mention, almost everyone owns a mobile device, making it more convenient to get access from online sources. Politicians should stay on their toes by providing the relevant information where their voters will be able to see and be engaged with it. Since information could also spread like wildfire, politicians have the upper hand by updating their voters consistently. This could be in the form of posting videos, podcasts, articles all on their own websites or social media accounts.
2. Chatbots Are The New Norm
Chatbots have changed the way businesses interact and engage with consumers. It has changed the way politicians interact with the public as well. You don’t even need to know any programming language to install a chatbox on your website. A few politicians had success with the use of chatbots to help them share their stories, get voters to register, respond back to their followers instantly, and spread awareness of the political campaigns. With the help of the chatbox, they are able to actively update their loyal followers and stay connected whenever it is convenient for them.
3. Social Media Influences And Interactions
These days, one of the huge contributing factors for a successful political campaign is the amount of social influence the politicians have with their followers. With technology, politicians are able to gain a social media following and encourage the audience to vote for them. Take President Barack Obama as an example; he successfully used social media platforms to help him win his election by gaining support and capturing the hearts of social media users. This is also one of the primary reasons why politicians are catering to a much higher budget to maintain an online presence, engaging with various online advertising such as SEO hosting services, Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
4. Security Issues
One of the downsides of social media is how information can be easily shared, or to be more precise, confidential information. Politicians should keep their guard up and be aware in order to not raise any issue especially when it comes to sensitive topics. Security plays a huge role in politics, hence, high-security standards must be met when sharing information across the country or borders. If politicians fail to be up-to-date with the security and threats, they could risk losing their follower’s trust and possibly pose a threat to national security. The media could also slaughter the politicians by giving them a bad rep online. Once again, since information can be easily shared, a politician’s reputation could go down the drain within a few seconds too.
5. Target The Right Audience For Political Campaigns
With the use of web-tracking technology, politicians are able to track the right audience and gain their attention or interest. A few ways on how tacking could play a part is through targeted paid ads, email marketing campaigns as well as a good responsive website that is personalized according to the type of visitor. Politicians are able to leverage on digital marketing campaigns for their followers and keep them on their toes, while non-followers are able to be targeted as well and influence them by converting into a follower through targeted content.
With that being said, technology, particularly social media, is here to stay. Politicians, if you have yet to step into the world of social media, you will be lagging behind all your other competitors. Your voters are frequently hanging out in the online world, so be sure to stay up to date with the latest trends as you strive to be better leaders.
