COLUMN: 'The power of the ballot remains in our hands – let's use it wisely'
Katie Gleeson is an online content creator who documents family life on a dairy farm in rural Tipperary via her Instagram account @katieinthecountry.
The kids after-school activities have often left me at an impasse when it comes to canvassers calling, we are normally bundling into the car whilst the eager electioneers are tumbling out from theirs.
But as Ireland gears up for Local and European Elections on June 7, 2024, the landscape of political campaigning is markedly interesting for two reasons.
Firstly, with a General Election certainly on the horizon, many of these candidates will be leapfrogging from local issues to Leinster House.
Who we elect now will certainly have a major impact on the formation of our next Government.
Female candidates will especially have impact in this space as of 2023 onward, political parties must ensure that at least 40% of their candidates are women.
If they don’t meet this requirement, they’ll lose half of their yearly state funding.
This encourages parties to actively involve more women in their candidate selection process which is good move as women, who make up 50% of our population are severely under represented at government level.
Secondly, while there’s still boots on the ground door to door campaigning, social media has firmly embedded itself in the foundations these elections, transforming the way candidates interact with the electorate and more importantly how we as voters form opinions.
The digital age has ushered in a new political era where the lines between debate, free speech and “dog whistling” are often blurred for social media dominance.
One striking phenomenon this election season is the crossover of “celebrity” and social media influencers into real-world politics.
More prevalent in the European election candidates, those who initially gained popularity through platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are now leveraging their online followings to bolster their political ambitions, now touting policy proposals and rallying supporters with hashtags and viral videos.
It’s a peculiar twist that has left traditional politicians scratching their heads and scrambling to keep up.
The allure of social media in politics is undeniable. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer immediacy and reach that traditional media can’t match.
Candidates can instantly broadcast their messages, engage with voters in real time, and respond to opponents without the filter of a newsroom editor.
This direct line to the electorate is both a blessing and a curse. While it widely provides free access to information and gives voice to diverse perspectives, it also amplifies the risk of misinformation.
As we’ve seen, the speed at which false narratives can spread on social media often outpaces efforts to debunk them, leading to a murky information landscape.
AI-generated images, videos, and text are widespread on social media platforms like Facebook.
These hyper-realistic content pieces are often used for creating art or viral videos, but they’re also employed for stirring up controversy or defaming characters.
This isn't helped by algorithms that customise news feeds to show people what they want to see, strengthening what they read online to be fact and this is how social media can shape people's opinions, even if it’s not always clear exactly how it works.
Established news outlets still play a crucial role in investigative reporting and providing context that social media snippets often lack.
The challenge for voters is to balance the immediacy of social media with the depth and reliability of traditional news sources.
The Irish electorate must navigate this with caution. It’s easy to get swept up in the wave of sensationalized, bite-sized news that dominates our feeds.
Yet, what appears as organic or reactionary content can often be pre-planned curated conversation. I have been involved in content creation for many years and have seen behind the smoke and mirrors.
I’m often surprised at how easily people are taken in by scripted video clips or AI generated content until its pointed out to them.
Transparency matters as much online as it does in traditional media. As voters, it’s our responsibility to engage critically with the information we consume, ensuring that our opinions are genuinely informed and not just shaped by the whims of an algorithm.
The power of the ballot remains in our hands – let’s use it wisely. Katie Gleeson is an online content creator who documents family life on a dairy farm in rural Tipperary via her Instagram account @katieinthecountry.