From the “sea of ​​people” and the “mystagogue of democracy”, which exclaimed Andreas Papandreou to the huge crowd at the PASOK central election rally in 1985, to minute-long videos on tik tak in order to receive a message 400,000 young people who vote for the first time, the time difference may be only a few years, but the qualitative difference is huge.

In just a few decades, political communication has changed dramatically – what happened a few years ago now seems retro and a recipe for failure. political parties And political leaders they try to tailor their messages and target them appropriately to certain groups of people.

The most recent example is a prime minister who decided to send his first election announcement via TikTok. A few days later he gave an interview – via YouTube– V 25 year old Nefeli Meg. In both cases, the targeting was clear: new voters.

Leaders (and in general all candidates) choose new communication channelswhile adjusting your verbal message. OUR Alexis Tsipras – in a recent video on social networks – he was called out (m) president from a young boy.

Now it’s clear that social media (for all their dynamics and peculiarities) will play a key, if not leading, role in political campaigns.

Need for use and risk

“Before, the people went to listen to the politician, now the politician is trying to go to the people. We used to have squares, then we came to television. Then the percentage of daily TV viewing started to decline and there was a big shift towards social media. “Politicians, if they really want to communicate with the world, must go on social networks,” the strategy and communications consultant notes to K. Eftichis Vardoulakis.

He discovers that there is one age stratification in terms of platform choice – let’s say people over 35 choose it facebookwhile the younger ones age TikTok.

“If you can’t confirm this, the image may border on the ridiculous”

“Whoever wants to communicate with this audience must also use these means. It’s not easy: they have a certain logic, their own aesthetic, stylistic and visual identity with the video and the image,” he notes and adds: “Well, this is something that cannot be supported by everyone. There is a danger that if you cannot confirm this, the image will border on the comic.”

Mr. Vardoulakis emphasizes that “should be used sparingly“, noting that “the vast majority of politicians who have flair understand this and very few choose TikTok. Most people choose it Instagramwhich is more controlled or much more facebook“.

Television dominates

For now, he comments, “television remains the number one medium” and “will remain dominant for a few more years.” “Social networks reproduce the materials that television provides,” he assesses, adding that “in the next or next elections, that part of every political campaign that will be implemented, broadcast and distributed through social networks“.

He adds another dimension that emerges from social media: “They have tremendous momentum, it’s an extremely complex and dynamic environment, it takes a lot of skill to be effective. And since it’s Wednesday interactivemany times one is created sense of familiaritywhich can also cause contempt, as he used to say Oscar Wilde“.

Distance decreases, confrontation increases

“All this affects relationships. There is no distant image, a leader of mythical proportions, such as Konstantinos Karamanlis, Andreas Papandreou And Konstantinos Mitsotakis. You saw them on TV and didn’t get a chance to interact. Now you’re falling for a politician you don’t like and cursing him is demystifies. There are politicians who start a conversation with users.” All this interaction shortens distances and “exacerbates the landscape of confrontation.”

To the question whether the parties organize open political speeches in the squaresMr. Vardoulakis responds positively, saying “it produces stuff for you.”

“2000 people will look at you and you will be happy, while in the past meetings were a way of communication, you went to hear what the other person was saying. They are currently being used as a means of producing political communication materials. You are hosting an event not to be heard by the fans, but to have content. You will always need opportunities to say what you want.”

Video as a message carrier

“Social media has really changed the landscape in the last decade, but mostly in terms of posting and promoting the message,” notes Florence Chelaistrategy and data consultant, while focusing on the power of video as a powerful channel.

He believes that the video has always been important, but “it served as an accessory and was usually a statement to a journalist, an excerpt from a show, or a carefully worded message.”

“I think we’re getting closer to a situation where video will be the main medium not only for advertising and promotion, but also for core content,” he says to emphasize this, “but we’re not there yet.”

He states that the video in the upcoming elections “will not have a significant impact, on the one hand, due to the time frame (summer), and on the other hand, due to its temporary use by many mainstream politicians.”

Mr Chelay thinks it would be a mistake for politicians to treat the use of social media 90s terms. “It’s not about putting on baggy clothes, going to the square on roller skates and saying, ‘I’m taking you and I’ve come to the places you frequent so we can kiss.’ According to him, “This is a paternalistic, condescending, offensive approach that will not deceive anyone. That’s the definition of cringe“.

However, he believes that if it is impossible to formulate a political proposal in 120 characters (Twitter), then in 120 second video maybe you can: “Show a graph of purchasing power, show ten shots of everyday life that you improve. You can show your “humanity” with your style.”

“It won’t affect our votes”

As it turns out, most of the campaign will be conducted through our mobile phones, with a focus on young voters who are… uncharted territory.

How do young people perceive this approach?

OP student, Odysseus Vlachonikolosbelieves that “when we scroll to the next video and stumble upon a politician’s post, we’ll sit down and watch it just out of curiosity.”

To add that “I don’t think this will affect our vote. All it offers is another video to send to our friends. The desire of every politician over 40 to look “cool” and “close to youth” is another material for humorous pages.”

21-year-old student Panteio, Christina Liani, emphasizes that “social networks have penetrated our daily lives. Especially TikTok, which is used by most of my generation. Now, by scrolling down, we can be informed, thus enabling politicians to get their message across. Therefore, the presence of politicians on the TikTok platform is increasing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the content they post will instantly convince someone my age. In fact, when they talk about specialized issues using more wooden language, they pass indifferently, and as a result, a person of my age will not even watch the video – he will go to the next one.

Ms. Liani, noting that she can get bored if the videos are long, thinks “some people don’t have it” with technology and I would say that in their attempt to identify with it, they become a bit… . cringe. Some people convince me to some extent, because they prefer to touch on issues that directly concern my generation, such as youth unemployment, housing. But most of them don’t.”

The party that was born and spread through the Internet

But how does the opposite side see the pre-election communicative game? We asked for the opinion of the chairman of the small party, Ms. liberal alliance.

“For us, social networks are applied participation and the opportunity to jointly form positions for real social change,” emphasizes Despina Limniotakiswhich tells how her party was born on the web.

“The Liberal Alliance is the first political formation in Greece to be born via the Internet, when in 2003 two young medical students launched e-rooster.gr, a purely political website through which they commented radically on current events. time. Without access to traditional media, the two friends managed to connect people from all over Greece using the growing popularity of the Internet.”

“FI.SY. spread through the Internet, became a party thanks to the first Internet communities who supported her, and twenty years later she continues to use social media as her official medium to spread her message. At present, among other things, we are interested in the challenges of artificial intelligence in the production of politics, as well as how the echo chambers of the Internet (echo chambers) form extreme ideological political consciousnesses, the influence of which carries risks for the country.