Social media can "demystify" politics, says Reform Jersey leader

Tuesday 10 January 2017

The clash of worlds that is social media and politics may sound the Trump alarm bells ringing, but one Jersey politician says that it has a “huge part” to play in demystifying Island politics.

In an interview with Express, St Helier Deputy Sam Mézec, explained how Reform Jersey – Jersey’s only political party, which he leads – is using social media to engage a wider variety of people in political debate.

“Social media is now starting to play a role in politics where it previously didn’t. People who’ve used it over the past couple of years were largely speaking into an echo chamber, but now we’ve realised how we can use it not only to engage with people who already support [Reform Jersey’s policies], but those who don’t support it, but might later,” he said. 

“We noticed how [social media] had been successful in other jurisdictions from a variety of political organisations – so Donald Trump, for example, even though what he puts on Twitter is complete rubbish, people are talking about it.”

While Reform Jersey might not be spouting the same policies as the President-elect, Deputy Mézec has been acutely aware of the growing anti-establishment sentiment, and social media – as well as the recent addition of cameras into the States Chamber – has helped to mark the difference between politicians “inside the bubble” and those “outside trying to burst it.” 

One such example of social media’s success in this arena was the video ‘why the Jersey public hate politicians’ – a speech by Deputy Mézec blasting the States’ status quo. It gained over 100,000 views and reached audiences in Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and was shared widely the Isle of Man too.

“I think the reason that people responded was that people often think [States members] are all the same; we’re all part of the establishment, and there’s no difference between any of us… Most of the time if people see a politician on the TV they want to throw their shoe at it, but people were surprised and delighted to see that a politician was actually saying the same thing that they thought, and someone who is like them that isn’t part of the establishment and complains about the same things as them, who isn’t afraid to say it.”

“It’s basically a combination of the government being as unpopular and incompetent as it is, combined with the opportunity of seeing politicians speaking that aren’t just in the pockets of their rich mates,” he added, referring to the States refusal to increase taxes for wealthy islanders. 

The other advantage of using forums like Facebook, Deputy Mézec says, is that politicians and parties can put across their messages in their own words – undiluted by the media, who are often guilty of “misreporting or underreporting”, and in a way that can be understood by everyday people.

“Most politicians live and breathe politics 24/7 so they don’t know how to speak to real people. Reform Jersey have therefore made a conscious effort to reach out to people who only have a passing interest in politics and for whom the current government led by Ian Gorst doesn’t speak for them.”

Changing this perception of an “incompetent” government, however, may be a touch trickier than other politicians simply setting up their own accounts. Doing so would only serve to show “how out of touch they are,” Deputy Mézec believes.

Pictured: Deputy Sam Mézec, leader of Reform Jersey.

So what can they do instead to win back islanders’ confidence?

“In the immediate short term, the most positive thing the States could do would be to support P133 – the upcoming proposal to enact the results of the referendum in 2013 that were ignored. People were really annoyed about that, and it reinforced every negative view people had of politicians. It was a huge mistake.

“If [the States] sets its self-interest aside and accepts the result, it will send out the message that things are going to be different, and restore a huge amount of faith in politicians.”