The power of a politician lies in his/her ability to connect with his/her voters… Right? That’s what @barackobama demonstrated while campaigning — and there’s no quicker/easier, maybe even better way to connect and build a support base than through social media. In this digital age, computers have become (for most of us) an essential part of our everyday lives. We check our emails, review headlines, buy stuff, CONNECT with people and politicians are becoming more and more aware of bucket of gold sitting right in their office.
So why did 1,370 Japanese Politicians stop blogging and twittering last Tuesday? Well, that’s because they are running for the country’s upcoming election and are, by interpretation of law, required to abstain from any sort of online communication during the allotted 12 day campaign window. Even “traditional” forms of communication such as radio and television ads are strictly forbidden during this time. As opined by Seiji Ohsaka of Hokkaido to his twitter followers: “Today is the beginning of campaigning. I must end Twitter today, I feel it’s unreasonable.”
What’s even more fascinating (at least to me, a student of marketing in all cultures), is that even the good ole fashion “vote for me!” posters common among Student Body Presidents and Congressmen alike are forbidden. Instead, Politicians are allowed: a billboard in a set size, a set amount of flyers to give out, and a commercial for a set amount of time, on a (you guessed it) set date and time. It’s intended to provide Politicians with an equal playing field, but results instead in low voter registration and turnout as it’s difficult for politicians to market themselves and hold voters interest.
Many of the nation’s newspapers are crying out: “the Internet must be made available for election campaigns as soon as possible.” Afterall, shouldn’t everyone have the right to market themselves in 140 characters or less?