sociale media en de europese unie

Social media and the European Union:

a solution for a disengaged citizenry?Chris Aalberts

Social media and the EUwww.chrisaalberts.nl

Who am I?

• Researcher and lecturer in political communication

Four books in Dutch:• Veel gekwetter, weinig wol (2011)• U draait en u bent niet eerlijk (2010)• Altijd ver weg? (2008)• Aantrekkelijke politiek? (2006)

www.chrisaalberts.nlSocial media and the EU


Short quiz

Who are these people?


Which countries have the Euro?

• Austria• Czech Republic• Estonia• Finland• Hungary• Lithuania• Latvia• Malta• Slovenia• Slovakia• Romania


Who decides on railway privatisation?

• European Union– The council– European Parliament

• Countries• Regions• Local authorities• Railway companies themselves


Informed citizenship

• Which decisions are made?• Who made those decisions? • For what reasons?• What were the effects of those decisions?• What were the differences between political

parties?• How do local, regional, national and European

government interact?


Normative views

• Diverse ideas about the rights and obligations of citizens in modern democracy– Direct democracy– Deliberative democracy– Participative democracy– Informed citizenship

• These ideals are not realistic for a majority of the citizenry


Everyday life

• Politics does not play an important role• Citizens spend their time on other activities

• Several indicators show this– Political knowledge– Political interest– Political participation

• Normative views are highly theoretical


Audience democracy

• Citizens perceive a large distance between themselves and politicians

• Citizens are largely inactive, they vote in elections

• Citizens follow politics in the media• Citizens vote for parties they agree with• Citizens vote against governing parties if they

disagree with their policies

• Citizens are the audience of politicians• Empirical approach, not meant to be normative


Monitorial citizenship

• Citizens are largely uninformed about politics• Citizens will look after their own interests• Citizens are only interested in some political

topics• Other topics are unimportant to them

• Citizens possess an ‘antenna’• Citizens receive signals that something is wrong• In these cases, they can become active


Metaphor


The European audience

• No political knowledge• No political interest• No political activities


Monitoring Europe

But there is monitorial citizenship in Europe•Two locations of the European Parliament•Referendums on European treaties•ACTA-treaty on intellectual property rights•Situation in Greece

This seems to be unsatifactory


Five solutions

• More engagement is seen as needed• How can we stimulate this?

• School• Political leadership• Interactive policy making• Traditional media• Social media


Expectation

• Social media attract citizens to the European Union

Combination of four ideas: • Social media educate citizens, just as schools do• Leaders can show their political leadership• Citizens have more influence through social media• Journalists find interesting stories online

• YouTube: Marietje Schaake


Education


When schools teach about the Europe Union, this leads

to more engagement

Education

• Large budgets for school activities• Industry of school projects on Europe

• Europe is a secondary topic• Not enough time for

national governments


Education

Misunderstanding about two types of media•Pull medium: demand of the audience is central•Push medium: offer of the medium is central•When citizens do not demand EU information, there will be no education

Social media do not change this


Leadership


Stronger leaders tell citizens that Europe

is important

Leadership

• No important European leaders or positions• Creation of the ‘European president’

• Not an important figure for public opinion• An opinionated president would possibly

lead to more resistance against the EU


Leadership

Misunderstanding about political leadership•Politicians become famous through traditional media•Policial leadership is largely based on political views•Many politicians lack clear views on Europe, except some extreme, anti-European examples

Social media do not play a role in both steps


Citizen influence


Citizens should have a say in European policies

Citizen influence

• Not many examples• Most important one: the European citizens’

initiative

• Research shows that support is not always the outcome of interactive policy making

• Projects are viable when citizens can have a real influence

• Influence on a European level is unlikely


Citizen influence

Misunderstanding about citizen influence•Citizens do not become engaged because there are options for conversation, influence, etc. •Emotional issues are needed•Citizens need knowledge about policies and procedures to be effective •They lack this knowledge

Social media cannot change this


Traditional media


Media should spend more time on the EU

Traditional media

• EU institutions have large media budgets• Many types of help for journalists

• Journalists follow the citizens’ agenda• As long as Europe is not

part of that agenda…


Traditional media

Misunderstanding about journalism•Some journalists might be lazy•But audience demand is still essential•Social media could push certain issues•But journalists will still ask themselves about the relevance for their audiences

•Social media cannot change these decisions


Conclusion

Social media do not change social structures•Citizen interest in the EU stays the same•Behavior of politicians stays the same•Journalists still work in identical ways•Citizen influence remains sparse

Social media do not bring anything new•Reproduction of older patterns


sociale media en de europese unie

News & Politics