Twitter did not cause the degeneration of democracy.
I think that began a long while ago.
After JFK in 1960 - political operators realised that image mattered as much as policy. That made elections into the marketing of products and not the competition of ideas.
And now - we live in the Twitter generation.
In 140 characters:
you can say you like or dislike something.
You can say you love or hate something.
AND> If you are a clever wise-ass who is good with words and has a sense of Zeitgeist you can prove to your gazillion followers that you are indeed a clever wise-ass who is good with words and has a sense of Zeitgeist.
But what you cannot do is explain or sell a truly great idea.
***
Now wordiness is no proof of genius - I fully accept that. A sign in a pub loo I saw this weekend said (and I abridge - but only because I cannot remember all of them...)
Pythagoras' Theorem - 24 words
Lord's Prayer - 66 words
Gettysburg Address 238 words
US declaration of independence - 1700 words
... and EU regulations on the sale of cabbages - 26,700 words.
So let us not mistake my argument - wordiness is not in and of itself a virtue.
But the clever soundbite - and the ability to hire clever people who will write them for you - is not proof of great ideas or great leadership.
Getting elected these days seems to be about telling people what they want to hear - in the shortest possible time - so they can get back to watching X Factor.
In 1996 Tony Blair repeatedly said 4 words.
"education, education and education"
and everyone cheered.
18 years later the legacy of the Blair years is - war, war and war.
The soundbite was lovely - but does anyone think state education is better now than it was in 1996?
Let me give you another one.
"Peace in our time!"
4 words - that everyone cheered.
Both those 4 word soundbites would have made great Tweets - but they made little actual difference.
Tony Blair didn't stop the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Let alone fix state education.
Neville Chamberlian didn't stop Hitler. Let alone prevent a war that cost millions of lives (and don't get me started on Ukraine - the potential Munich of 2014)
But they both sounded great.
You may say to me - well it's easy to criticise the politics of marketing and soundbite - but how do you suggest the politicians engage the actual electorate in a debate over real ideas and real policies and real leadership, clever clogs Bozo?
And I say to you...in all honesty - I am not sure I can.
But I am totally sure I cannot do it in 140 characters.
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