Twitter gives KRudd a taste of real time democracy
Dr. Sir John Howard, AC, WSCMoF
It was a perfect example of the social web in action: as the Prime Minister
fielded questions from 200 young Australians on the ABC's live Q&A program on
Monday night, his performance was being critiqued in real time by a horde of
viewers using Twitter.
Not all the comments were polite. Or politically informed. Or always relevant to
the issue at hand. But democratic discourse is never all of those things all of
the time — no matter what the vehicle — so you might say the Twitter
conversation was typical of something you'd find anywhere issues are being
discussed by a cross-section of the electorate.
Q&A styles itself as "an adventure in democracy". Its format sees politicians,
community leaders, experts of all kinds and ordinary folk from all walks come
together each week to discuss issues of importance. Questions are put without
notice by studio audience and others watching from home.
An interesting addition to the program — a creation that arose spontaneously
from the Twitter community — is a kind of parallel discussion group using the
microblogging service Twitter.
During the Q&A broadcast each week, Twitter-literate viewers post messages
commenting in real time on what they see. The comments are collated in an online
feed — known as a hashtag — called #qanda, which can be viewed by anyone with a
computer, an internet connection and a little know-how.
Kevin Rudd's appearance on the program set the twitterati alight. More than 1000
people engaged in the Twitter conversation, racking up more than 4000 posts
during the program's 50-odd minutes. That might not seem much compared to its
average national audience of nearly 412,000 viewers, but it was double the usual
Twitter traffic for the show and was easily the highest trending topic on
Twitter in Australia at the time.
The unique thing about the #qanda Twitter feed is that it provides an avenue to
air opinions about a public discussion as they happen, in an environment of
like-minded people they have never met, for people who might otherwise feel
excluded from social and political discourse.
Peter McEvoy, the program's executive producer, says #qanda enables people to
become commentators in their own right and to get involved in political and
social discussion in new ways. "It's a new form of interactivity that links
television and the web, which is at the forefront of moving towards more
interactive media."
And because the Twitter stream is not edited or screened — as an in-house ABC
message board or guestbook would be — the result is a collection of varied
opinions from a community that is broader than Q&A's usual audience.
Many tweeters criticised the quality of questions and commented on the Prime
Minister's evasiveness and gruff demeanour; others wanted to know why no one
asked about the government's proposed internet filter. At one point, prompted by
a comment from the PM, some tweeters veered off to discuss racism in Australia.
MylesBarlow made his point with a cheeky suggestion: ''Working families"! Okay,
everybody drink . . .") Some, such as RulyTruly criticised the program for
changing its usual format for the PM's appearance: "Seeing #qanda hack its
format, wonder what compromises #insiders will make to get Rudd to appear. Place
him on a throne? Feed Bolt to lions?" timeyles agreed: "The panel format makes
#qanda varied and interesting. Rudd makes it monotonous and annoying. He ruined
the season return."
The point here is that the Twitter community was not talking to the Prime
Minister or even to the producers of the show — at least not directly. This was
the digital equivalent of a Town Hall meeting with an engaged audience sitting
up the back giving a running commentary on proceedings.
And the commentary didn't end when the program ended. It continued the following
day when people watched the program on the ABC's iView service and added their
two cents to the #qanda thread — the digital equivalent of the watercooler
discussion.
Ross Monaghan, a lecturer in information technology in Deakin University's
school of communication and creative arts, sees much value in the #qanda
experiment and regards it as an example of how the internet is changing the way
people communicate and organise.
The #qanda feed, says Monaghan, enables people of like mind to swarm around a
topic in real time and make connections and friendships and engage in
discussions that persist beyond the event.
"That's what Web 2.0 — the 'social web' — is about. It's not computers being
connected any more, the technology is allowing people to connect and share
thoughts and ideas and, importantly, to collaborate in ways that simply were not
possible before."
Monaghan also sees value in the immediate nature of the #qanda discussion. The
comments are "unguarded thoughts", he says, posted by tweeters within seconds of
thinking them. "You're looking at the collective thoughts of the people
watching," he says. "You're looking into people's minds."
What the politicians make of the new communication avenue is not clear.
A statement from Rudd's office yesterday in response to questions about his
thoughts on Twitter and his appearance on Q&A referred to his belief in "open,
accountable and accessible" government; the importance of hearing firsthand from
Australians and of engaging with the community "through a range of forums".
No mention of Twitter, but we know that the Prime Minster is aware of it. At the
time of writing, 919,521 people follow his @KevinRuddPM handle, through which he
and his staffers have posted 485 tweets.
One of those was made to the #qanda hashtag yesterday morning: "#QandA last
night with 200 really smart, engaged young people. Tough gig with really sharp
questions. KRudd."
Get used to that, Prime Minister, there's a lot more of it to come.
--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ipvdBnU8F8
- KRudd at his finest.
"The Labour Party is corrupt beyond redemption!"
- Labour hasbeen Mark Latham in a moment of honest clarity.
"This is the recession we had to have!"
- Paul Keating explaining why he gave Australia another Labour recession.
"Silly old bugger!"
- Well known ACTU pisspot and sometime Labour prime minister Bob Hawke
responding to a pensioner who dared ask for more.
"By 1990, no child will live in poverty"
- Bob Hawke again, desperate to win another election.
"A billion trees ..."
- Borke, pissed as a newt again.
"Well may we say 'God save the Queen' because nothing will save the governor
general!"
- Egotistical shithead and pompous fuckwit E.G. Whitlam whining about his
appointee for Governor General John Kerr.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DUMB CUNT!"
- FlangesBum on learning the truth about Labour's economic capabilities.
"I don't care what you fuckers think!"
- KRudd the KRude Rat at his finest again.
"We'll just change it all when we get in."
- Garrett the carrott