Social networks have undeniably renewed political communication. They enable politicians to reach a much wider audience much more quickly than through traditional methods. What’s more, messages are “disintermediated” and can go viral, reaching an audience way beyond the one initially targeted.
Even if reach, speed and disintermediation really are advantages for conveying a message, the fact remains that formats are short, whether it’s a written message or a video. During a recent referendum campaign, I was struck by the comment of a Facebook user stating that if the answer to her question could only be expressed in words rather than through a video, then the subject must be hazy.
Social networks do not allow for context to be set or for nuances and details to be conveyed, so positions are necessarily simplified to the point of simplicity. This phenomenon is amplified by the way the networks themselves function, which forces people to choose sides by reacting through a limited number of emojis. No wonder, then, that half-baked opinions become the norm. Having spent just over fifteen years on the Geneva City Council, I have witnessed the transformation of the political discourse: whereas in the early 2000s, it was not uncommon for an elected representative – regardless of his/her affiliation – to refer to his or her party’s “vision of society” to explain a position, the expression has completely disappeared from the mouths of politicians, as the memorialists of the City Council confirmed when I asked them.
What’s more, as we know, the algorithms of social networks tend to show users content that matches their opinions. This reinforces existing convictions and means that users are less exposed to differing perspectives. This is all the more serious as the issues on which the public is called upon to vote are increasingly complex.
Admittedly, various studies have shown that the Swiss rely less on social networks for information now than they used to (nearly 50% in 2018 against 39% in 2023) and that elections have not – so far – been won thanks to social media. Incidentally, the SVP, described as the big winner of the last federal elections, has done relatively little campaigning on social media compared to the other parties.
The quality of democratic debate deserves to be nurtured relentlessly. As practitioners of political communication, part of this task falls to us. When we are in charge of a campaign, it is up to us to convince our client to offer different ways in which to express their point of view and to reject the catchphrase if it has been moulded at the expense of accuracy.
Alexandra Rys, Partner
