So I was asked by PR Week on Monday for my views on Gordon Brown’s Ask the PM initiative on YouTube. This was the latest foray into the online world by Downing Street, following its recent embrace of Twitter. My assessment that Ask the PM “smacks of gimmickry and desperation” led the article and there was a clear consensus from other industry commentators, that this project was a typical case of ‘too little, too late’.
I had a couple of interesting conversations on Friday in response to the piece. These boiled down to the argument that as a Social Media evangelist I should have welcomed the initiative, however imperfect, as a step in the right direction. Sorry to disappoint.
I have come to a view, which has hardened in recent months, that high profile examples of digital tokenism such as Ask the PM, are actually devaluing the real potential of Social Media. They are feeding a scepticism which makes the pioneering work we are doing unnecessarily difficult.
A couple of years ago, the medium was the message when it came to organisations adopting Social Media. This was typified by those endless stories in the national press, with leading youth brands like IBM and PA Consulting opening virtual offices in Second Life. Today, the filter I always use when assessing Social Media initiatives, my own and others, is whether the communication objectives and creative approach are actually more interesting than the digital platform(s) being utilised.
Using this filter, Ask the PM just doesn’t cut it. It’s not a genuine attempt by Gordon Brown to reconnect and really start listening to a disillusioned electorate. His comment at the end of his welcome video, where he states, “I’ll be back to talk to you at some point…” betrays a total lack of understanding of the two-way conversation that Social Media enables. You may as well write a letter and stick it in the post - you’d probably get a quicker reply!
In my mind the YouTube channel, the Twitter feed and whatever online gimmick is announced next, is primarily about metaphor, the hope that some shiny digital zeitgeist will rub off on an increasingly lacklustre Prime Minister. Equally, it’s a clumsy attempt by the new Downing St communications team to ‘get with it’ and reduce the gaping void between their digital approach and that of the Opposition.
As I have been saying a lot this week in new business pitches, Social Media is not a magic wand. Ultimately whatever Stephen Carter and his team try to do, Gordon Brown at heart, will always remain an analogue politician in a digital age.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Nice post. I’ve been fairly open in my disappointment with the Downing St Twitter profile - it’s all broadcast and selective response. No engagement. No real feeling it’s a human being. Just one thing though - IBM as a leading youth brand?! The use of the word ‘tape’ in the Ts and C’s also reveals a lot.
In a word, well a few actually - the thing about social media is that it calls for total transparency. And transparency isn’t a word I’d really use in connection with the current government. All good learning though - If I was sat in the Conservatives press office - I’d be watching and learning from all the mistakes the PM and his team appear to be making and get it right.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Hi Jonathan, thanks for the comment. The IBM thing was meant to be an attempt at irony, but perhaps I was being too subtle for once
I think the issue with Downing St is that it is in a difficult position when it comes to Social Media as it can;t be seen to be campaigning for the Labour Party and when you are promoting a Labour PM the distinction is a difficult one to get right. That said, there are few excuses for not being down with the lingo.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
GB + new media = clutching at straws.
You’re right, there’s no connection and could be damaging to both himself and new media as a communications channel.
But is it possible for him to make it work, given that he’s trying to communicate to 60m people. Any feedback is going to be difficult to digest and return and intelligent dialogue. Maybe it’s something that should be done on a (comparatively) micro level, but MPs and individual offices..?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:33 am
To be fair to Golden Brown, it *may* be a mistake, but it’s a mistake that everyone else is making at the moment… WebCameron anybody?!