Expert analysis: social media and political communication

Parties and politicians have long since discovered social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Co. for political communication. Nowhere else can so many people be reached and their own social media communities set up in one fell swoop. Most of the contributions are staged professionally and thoughtfully in order to achieve the desired public image in political communication. Image is everything, especially just before an election campaign. In Bavaria, there are state elections in October – shortly after the summer folk festival season. And what better place to demonstrate closeness to the people and solidarity with Bavaria than at a folk festival? So it’s no wonder that all the candidates for the state parliament appear there and have their picture taken or even produce their own video clips in order to then distribute them widely via their channels.

WORDUP Managing Director Achim von Michel recommends taking a closer look at such posts by politicians: “The pictures posted there have a purpose and in most cases are not authentic spontaneous recordings. On the contrary, there is a well thought-out media strategy behind their postings.”

Von Michel recently analyzed the social media appearances of Bavarian politicians at the Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing for the Straubinger Tagblatt together with a body language expert. In addition to Prime Minister Markus Söder and Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger, the visitors from politics also included the top candidate of the Greens, Katharina Schulze and the Bavarian SPD Chairwoman Ronja Endres. While Hubert Aiwanger does not seem to attach great importance to staging his person and prefers to create a party mood in his shirt sleeves, his coalition partner Markus Söder is the uncrowned king of political self-portrayal. He poses in the marquee with a raised beer mug, chats animatedly with service employees and generally likes to show himself in front of idyllic landscapes.

“This self-portrayal is also necessary today in order to successfully catch votes, and is therefore part of everyday political life. That’s why you should keep in mind that there is a specific purpose behind almost all pictures that politicians or their teams post,” says von Michel.

The print version of the article from the Straubinger Tagblatt can be found HERE.