Since the onset of COVID-19, I’ve had more time to indulge in social media. By “indulge,” I mean doomscrolling about anti-vaxxers, environmental collapse, and the still-darkening legacy of residential schools. I’m no different from others. According to a study in the U.S., social media consumption rose to 82 minutes a day in 2020, up from 75 the year before — with many folks refreshing their screens to find case-count statistics. I’m guessing we’re online more for lack of better options.
With an election in Canada, I spent a day looking warily at the social-media campaigns of our political parties. In past elections, we saw Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau on Facebook as a selfie-Jedi, materializing before any camera poised to click, and New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh mug on TikTok. I wanted to know how, if at all, social media has changed in the pandemic era.
Political parties usually dramatize an election as an existential struggle. But can they raise the stakes when many Canadians literally fear for their lives when they go buy groceries or breathe? As I follow the campaign on Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok, I want content that’s realistic but doesn’t prompt me to cower in terror. I want the promise of normalcy — no, of decency.
To my dismay, my election timeline is already fouled with slung mud. Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland has a “manipulated media” label affixed to a Twitter video. A Conservative attack ad, in which Trudeau’s head is superimposed on a...
Read Full Story: https://globalnews.ca/news/8154801/canada-election-social-media-strategy/
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