På torsdag arrangerar [[Fokus]] ett heldagsseminarium på temat När tekniken förändrar politiken. En av de inbjudna talarna är Alan Rosenblatt, som är Veckans makthavare. Här tar han själv till orda.
Political Parties, Citizens, and the Social Web
If you think about it, an ideal political party is part political organization and part social network. While the primary role of political parties is to elect candidates to office and drive the policy-making process while in office, getting party members elected and getting party policies enacted requires a robust social network of voters and activists. This is especially true now that the internet has enabled voters and activists to create and sustain their own political and social movements.
While in the days before online social media and social networks, political parties had a comparative advantage over private citizens with respect to political and advocacy organizing, today’s internet puts many of the same organizing tools into the hands of anyone with access to the web. And since many of these tools are free or very cheap to use, the potential for individual or small groups of citizens to mobilize mass action is a force political parties cannot ignore.
When talking to corporations about the social web, the conversation usually starts like this: “There already are, and will continue to be many conversations about your brand on the social web. If you are not on the social web participating in these conversations, they will go on without you. And that is no way to manage your brand.”
The same logic is true for political parties and the policies they pursue. Citizens are talking about these things online already and unless parties are part of these conversations, they will be unable to influence what the people are saying. The fact is, these online conversations have become central to national policy debate. In the general scheme of political things, if you are unable to influence the national debate, you will not be successful at the polls or in governing.
Thus, political parties must be active in the social web, not just as institutions, but also as individuals who work for the institution. Further, to achieve real influence in the social web, political parties must cultivate a network of supporters from the general citizenry who will champion the party across the social web. And to be truly successful, these champions, while to some degree guided by party organizers, should be free agents promoting the success of their own parties because it matters to them personally.
Political parties need to pursue social media strategies that instill in its members a sense of shared values and shared benefits in success. And most importantly, social media strategy should treat citizens are strategic partners who are as vital to success as the party leaders.
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Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D., leder arbetet med Online Advocacy vid tankesmedjan Center for American Progress Action Fund. Han är grundare av den virtuella tankesmedjan Internet Advocacy Center, adjungerad professor vid Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, och American Universities. Han bloggar på Huffington Post, TechPresident.com och DrDigiPol.com.
