Political leaders in the United States face the challenge of communicating their ideas and opinions to millions of voters in geographically and culturally diverse parts of the country. They have to connect with people and gain their support in order to win elections and be successful in office. Not only this, but in today’s era of 24-hour news, there is a demand for politicians to respond immediately to current events, which requires them to be agile and able to communicate the right message in a short period of time.
In order to regularly deliver carefully crafted messages, political leaders and their teams of advisors must have a highly developed communication skill . For this reason, the world of politics is a great place to look for examples of communication in action.
In today’s politics, everything from campaign ads to photo opportunities to social media posts is thoughtfully developed by a team of advisors who are highly skilled communicators. The politicians themselves must have excellent oral communication skills in order to deliver clear and compelling public speeches. Political leaders have a much broader reach today than in the past, making it all the more important for their messaging to be on point. Many speeches are broadcast live, politicians’ tweets instantly reach their followers, and the internet rapidly spreads information to all who want it.
As the United States moved into the Information Age in the 1990s and early 2000s, the internet and eventually social media became critical for political campaigns. In today’s political environment, communication is essential and powerful, often targeted directly toward voters based on their political affiliation or location. It is meant to motivate voters and to inspire them.
In 2008, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign forged the path for campaigning in the digital era, registering nearly 1.5 million supporters on its website and organizing thousands of grassroots fundraising events. The Obama campaign’s website became a digital hub for organizing volunteers and helped the presidential candidate break many fundraising records, thanks largely to online donations (Stirland, 2008). Since President Obama’s success in 2008, many politicians have followed his lead, becoming increasingly agile with new technology and especially social media, which lets them immediately communicate with and respond to constituents in a direct and informal way.
One of the most notable ways communication technology has changed how politicians interact with citizens is through the use of social media. Barack Obama wrote the very first presidential tweet in 2010 during his time in office, and over the following decade it became common for politicians to maintain official social media accounts to communicate with constituents and voters. President Donald Trump is known for his regular use of Twitter as a political tool.
As you know, social media content must be short and to the point—especially on Twitter, which limits posts to only 280 characters. How do you think this changes the kind of information we are getting from our politicians? Do you think it’s a good thing that politicians use social media as a communication tool?
In this Sophia Real Talk, we’ll check back in with Rod Hicks from The Society of Professional Journalists to learn the critical role that technology plays in modern politics. Rod will demonstrate how the skill of technology is giving groups like politicians the upper hand.
[MUSIC PLAYING] In his 35 years as a journalist, Rod Hicks has learned that there's a critical skill politicians must master to get our votes.
Technology-- learning and understanding it. Being really good at it can be the thing that makes one politician successful over another. They use technology to help build their brand, to shape their image. They keep up on the various platforms and many tools that are available.
They may have videos showing them doing things in their community, giving speeches, showing all the work that they do for their constituents, all the legislation they get passed. Social media can help extend the reach. They can have a much larger following. Their message gets out to a much larger group of people.
Pretty much all of us can use technology to do the same thing. If you are looking for a job, you want to present the best image of you. And so it becomes very important to use the latest technology to build your own brand and to craft the image that you want people to see. You can harness technology and make it work for you.
American history is filled with great orators. We can find examples spanning from revolutionary thinkers to the Founding Fathers to the many activists who spoke passionately for civil rights. With that in mind, let’s now explore the role of communication in politics of the past.
Source: Strategic Education, Inc. 2020. Learn from the Past, Prepare for the Future.
REFERENCES
Stirland, Sarah Lai . (2008, Novermber 4). Propelled by Internet, Barack Obama Wins Presidency. Wired. www.wired.com/2008/11/propelled-by-in
