Social Media: The Changing Nature of Politics and Politicians – from MPs to ‘Celebrities’

Abstract

The dramatic advancement of social media since 2008 has changed how the public interact and hold political figures to account, where in some instances, politicians are seen more as celebrities - #dishyrishi. Though the likes of Twitter and Facebook existed in 2008, its use by politicians was limited. When an event happened, no matter how mundane or world-shattering it was, information about this occurrence would be distributed either by word-of-mouth or traditional forms of communication (i.e. radio or traditional media). Today, with the help of social media, news stories can be shared with the world in a matter of seconds. Consequently, where we may have traditionally ignored the ‘moral discrepancies’ of our politicians, social media forces stories into the public domain where we have become more interested in the honesty of our political actors rather than policy agendas. Indeed, anecdotally policies and laws are often pushed through parliament whilst public attention is drawn elsewhere.