The influence social media may have on the provincial election

By

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – The use of trolls, bots and social media keyboard warriors will end up influencing next week’s provincial election more than ever before, according to one expert. The prominence of people pushing political points online is only growing.

“This may be the first provincial election [in BC] where we have seen the use of what appears to be either volunteers or paid representatives would a polite word, shills would be a less-polite one, that are reinforcing or reiterating talking points from political parties, or from interest groups. It’s hard to say exactly who is doing it,” explains David Black with the School of Communications and Culture at Victoria’s Royal Roads University.

He expects online trolling to ramp up for the rest of the election campaign, adding this style of political advocating has already taken hold south of the border. “As with many things, Canada is always a cycle or two behind the United States,” says Black. “You’ll have an annex attached to a war room in many major American campaigns where whole armies of volunteers and paid staff are there to push a message. For example, after a debate, messages are pushed, networks are activated,” is how he describes the use of social media in the US.

Now, for the first time, Black says it’s happening here in BC and on a large scale. “A lot of this is happening in the shadows and in ways that are not entirely visible to the average person. But what we may be seeing here is the beginning of another aspect of the Americanization of Canadian politics.”

It doesn’t even have to involve people. “It could be bots too. I’m sure there are ways in which we can discern whether we have bots or actual individuals. I would argue that actual individuals are probably more effective ultimately because they can actually engage in a conversation rather than just re-transmit a given message,” says Black.

Get caught up on all the stories of the election by clicking here.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today