The recent ‘people’s revolt’ against the ousted President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt started on facebook and twitter. Politics and all its contents and discontents now find relevance mostly on the internet. In fact, no web attention, no politics. Politicians have also seized the opportunity of technology to promote their ideas and raise awareness about their policies. President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria made his first declaration to contest 2011 elections on the Facebook. We should have known that the time would come when ‘techno-democratic forces will drive silent revolutions across the globe’ (Tunde Oseni The Economist, 19 June, 2008).
This is the era of political technology (not necessarily in the Michel Foucault way please) and technological politics! It reached the peak when, for the first time in history, a presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, as he then was, raised a youth-focused campaign from Chicago to reach the nooks and crannies of the United States. Obama literally started it!
Not only was Senator Obama able to use the internet as a political technology, he also changed the way and manner politics was played. For the first time, a presidential candidate raised millions of dollars via the internet. With oratory prowess and a highly electrifying message of change and hope, Senator Obama changed the face of politics. Before other candidates could realize the power of politics in technology and the power of technology in politics, Obama had raced over. While they were too busy with the old idea of political marketing, Mr Obama had raised several volunteers and foot soldiers from millions of facebooking and twittering youths. While his opponents were using analogue, Mr Obama had gone digital.
Digital democracy is now moving fast across the world. The internet is now the most important tool of politicking. Those who want to catch the majority of their constituents, which in most cases are the youths, have come to terms with the inevitable use of the internet. It is no longer enough to have good ideas; you have got to sell them digitally. It is no longer enough to claim follower-ship; you have got to tell us online. Leaders are now seen in the image which the internet users create for them. No doubt, the cyberspace is limited in developing countries, and could be a very rowdy space for cacophonous views and counter-views, but the cyberspace has come to be a very significant avenue for democratic political mobilization.
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Lybia and ALgeria are already on fire, thanks to FB and twitter. Few people actually have access to internet in africa. you can just imagine what would happen if internet access was like it is in the US
The reality is that any politician who does not get in line with technology will be moved out of line with technology. It is the trend and we will use it to praise leaders who do the right thing and hold accountable those who do otherwise
“it’s no longer enough to have good idea, you have to sell them digitally”. That is why we need a massive technology revolution across the continent. Also when people have access to information, it’s difficult for politicians to take them for granted.
Thanks, Tunde.
Obama has set the pace for digital democracy. Since then, the face of politics has not been the same for all those who are aspiring for political offices globally. The ‘digital icing’ was added by social network sites such as facebook and others.
Good article to further expand the dynamics of techno-democracy.