Prospective Candidates - According to an expert, social media doesn't contribute much in swaying voters.
When it comes to winning votes in local elections, social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook aren't really all that helpful, according to a professor's assessment. Professor Rafael Bauschke of the University of Public Administration and Finance in Ludwigsburg noted that these platforms aren't designed to help you reach out to non-voters or even your political opponent's supporters. Instead, they're great for letting your own voters know why they should vote for you again.
If you really want to reach a wider audience, you'll likely need to invest in paid advertisements, Professor Bauschke said. But a lot of smaller campaigns don't have the budget for that.
Most people who use social media are just there to kill time or distract themselves, he explained. They never expected their local politicians to show up and spout off about important issues to them. In his opinion, it might be more effective to have influencers or other credible people with no political affiliations debunk common cliches and myths.
Bauschke also has concerns about politics becoming more and more like entertainment. There's little interest in discussing important topics or having real debates about content, he said. Instead, campaigns often devolve into personality battles, with election posters featuring little more than one-word slogans. This leaves little room for meaningful conversations, he warned. In his view, the first person to drop out of a personal attack is often seen as "boring."
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In the upcoming local elections in Baden-Württemberg, politicians are turning to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for their election campaign, but a professor suggests that these platforms may not be as effective in swaying voters as they think. Professor Rafael Bauschke of the University of Public Administration and Finance in Ludwigsburg argues that social media is not an effective way to reach out to non-voters or opposition supporters. Instead, he believes that social media is primarily used to engage with one's own voters and remind them why they should vote for the candidate again.
Despite this, Bauschke suggests that paid advertisements may be necessary to reach a wider audience, especially for smaller campaigns that have limited budgets. However, he notes that most people on social media are there primarily to pass the time or distract themselves, and they are unlikely to be swayed by political messages.
In light of this, Bauschke suggests that it may be more effective to have influencers or other credible figures debunk common myths and cliches about politics instead of relying on politicians themselves. He also has concerns about politics becoming overly entertainment-focused, with campaigns devolving into personality battles and one-word slogans. This, he warns, leaves little room for meaningful conversations about important topics.
Despite these concerns, it is clear that social media is becoming an increasingly important tool in election campaigns, and politicians in Ludwigsburg, like those in municipalities across the country, are looking for ways to make the most of social media to connect with voters and build support for their campaigns.
If you want to reach out to non-voters or opposition supporters in the upcoming local elections in Ludwigsburg, it's important to consider alternative ways of communicating and engaging with voters beyond social media, such as hosting community events and town hall meetings, canvasing door-to-door, and reaching out to local media outlets to get your message out to a wider audience.
Politicians in Ludwigsburg will also need to be mindful of the potential pitfalls of relying too heavily on social media, including the risk of alienating voters who are not active on these platforms, the challenge of breaking through the noise of constant updates and messages, and the danger of falling into the trap of personality politics instead of focusing on the issues that matter to voters.
Source: www.stern.de
