Dear politician running for an election campaign, my name is Jason. I do not mean to tell you blow-by-blow what to do with your political campaign on social media. I only wish to tell you how you can avoid a viral embarrassment and how you may best influence with truth, humility, and empathy (T.H.E.) a large online voting bloc.
A Letter to Philippine Politicians on Social Media
First and foremost, please understand numbers and engagement. Your success in swaying the opinion of the online Filipino will not be determined by who has the most Twitter followers or the biggest Facebook page. No – it will be decided by the frequency and sincerity of your replies to the very few who will speak with your online personalities. You will be tweeted questions on Twitter or asked one in a Facebook comment; answer them by yourself whenever possible. We understand that it’s impossible to answer each one but if you take the time to personally answer even some truthfully, humbly, and empathically, you will win many. Engagement is two parties in conversation and connection with each other.
Second, please show your personalities, not just your pep talks. We expect you have grandiose plans for a better Philippines. We expect you have promises and goals, and big words. Here’s the problem: you are talking to people who are online more than you are and we have got quite the vocabulary. What we need – nay, crave – is for you to reveal a little bit of your humanity, a part we can relate with. Tell us a joke about your childhood. Share us a photograph of your muddy face back in Grade 5. We want to know who you were before you became a politician – in that we may judge for ourselves if you have remained a truthful, humble, and empathic representative of the people.
Third, begin a blog. Tell us a story. Tell us how tired but fulfilled you were after shaking 10,000 hands. Tell us how the smell of the poorer areas of Manila made you gag a little – and how you will commit to fix this problem. Tell us something, anything, that show you are willing to spend an hour, heck make it 30 minutes, of your busy schedule to be a transparent individual. We know not what you do in your free time, and as a public servant, I’m afraid you are not allocated the privilege of privacy we enjoy. We want and need to know that you are not wasting tax money in a casino. We want and need to know you are not fathering children left and right. We want and need to know the true, humble, and empathic way you spend time.
You are not allowed to put ads on your blog, but if you do, you must either spend it for the blog’s maintenance or donate it to a deserving charity.
Good luck in your campaign, Mr./Mrs./Ms. Politician. I wish you the best. Social media may not win (or lose) you a seat or an office – but it will leave a lasting impression on how we will remember you.
Cheers,
jsncruz
Featured image from Y! News, retrieved on January 15, 2012.
About Jason Cruz
