A candidate for the Australian federal government election, from the city of Maribyrnong, has been forced to stand down after posting derogatory remarks about state Transport Minister, Lynne Kosky on his blog.
The 24 year old, Hamish Jones called the Victorian Transport Minister a “bitch and a fuckwit” on his personal blog, ‘Ranting and Rambling’, back in April. The issue came to a head after it was brought to the attention of the Australian Liberal party director.
While the event in itself is rather insignificant, considering the size of the city of Maribyrnong and the complete obscurity, in the Western world, of the persons involved, it brings to light the fact that even politics has now entered the Web 2.0 era fully. There is no escaping the popularity of blogs and social media as a vehicle for political propaganda.
Politics And Social Media
It’s no secret that most US presidential candidates have used Facebook, MySpace and other social networks to reach the younger, Internet-savvy voters.
In the UK too, political parties have used and misused social networks to a great extent, as was witnessed in last week’s mini-drama when First Direct, Vodafone, Virgin Media, the AA, Halifax and Prudential withdrew ads from Facebook because they were showing up on a British National Party page.
Social Snub
PS: Does anyone find it hilarious that grown people have to resign for calling each other names… who would’ve thought the Australians are just as prudish as the Americans!!
