Dilution
Take my blog. Take any blog. Take any forum. Take this message I am writing now.
The technology gives a voice to millions who feel they have a point, want to make a point, or just want to blahblahblahyackyadablah. This is supposed to be empowering, and I do feel all nice when somebody thanks me for help they got from my site. But at the same time there is a vast dilution going on. Sure, we all know Stephen Fry is a big Twit(terer!), but I got most of that from magazines and news websites. Old-school media. I've never read one of his tweets, nor actually been on Twitter to look for myself. I've seen repostings of people who tweet from their phones every SINGLE lame thought that enters their heads.
I want to know what Gordon Brown intends to do regarding old age pensions. Minimum wage. Work benefits and NI contributions. I don't give a damn about what he had for breakfast and if he went to the toilet, did it stick? Any political party embracing the Web 2.0 ethos is going to have to make a name for themselves so they can be found above the morass of gibberish. That, ironically, will rely heavily upon traditional media to point out what we might not find otherwise, and it will often require them to make a fool of themselves Ballmer-style. Or maybe Fry-style. In either case, not "elect me to represent you" style.
Here in France, Ségo had quite a large internet following. They totally embraced what social networking had to offer. But, when the final tally was counted, it was a non-win on two reasons - firstly she was female (France isn't progressive enough, yet), and slightly more importantly a lot of her policies didn't add up. She'd run the country like Sweden and we'd all be very very happy but... uh... the cash is coming from where?
Social networking collects fanbois. It doesn't answer critical policy questions. Anybody that votes for somebody because of their cup size or their outstanding Larry Hagman impressions really doesn't deserve to live in a democratic country.
Personality is only, maybe, 10% of the whole equation. Look at Obama. Good personality, brilliant orator, but half the country doesn't want to see him in another term over his healthcare policy. What he is doing is, to my mind, right - but it is totally against the American capitalist ideal.
When we elect, we elect politicians.
If we want to elect faux celebrities... that's what Dancing on Ice is for.