There was a lot of instructive media coverage of the recent Brazilian election. Not just centred on Jair Bolsonaro, who won the presidency, but also around… YouTubers.
When I first read this Buzzfeed News piece, I found it a bit pearl-clutchy and clickbait-y. The headline seems to predict that the future of democracy is in the hands of YouTubers — an idea I found a bit terrifying — though I had to ask myself why that was, exactly.
I felt I had a better handle on the story once I’d finished the article, but I wouldn’t say I felt better. I realized that the headline had conjured up in my mind a dystopia where governments were taken over by YouTube celebrities. People who had no experience (or interest) in public service or policy, but who could spew trollish rhetoric, draw perfect winged eyeliner like nobody’s business, or direct an attack mob via a single WhatsApp message.
When you read a line like, “He says MBL is just a bunch of young people who love free market economics and memes,” it’s hard to know what to think, exactly. I mean, I like those things, too, but…
Of course, the result of harnessing memes, fake news, YouTube videos (and ad revenue), and WhatsApp broadcasting has become very clear. It got a 22-year-old elected to Brazilian Congress, and others elected at federal, state and municipal levels.
Harnessing online networks and ratcheting up the power of online branding and social media is just the brave new world of how elections work now. That’s true whether or not you’re part of the target demographics, know how it works, or are even aware that it’s happening.
My unease came back full force after I’d read this other Buzzfeed News piece soon after. It digs deep into just how the internet and social media were and are being used to manipulate global politics, to the detriment of liberal norms and values that have defined the global order of things since the Second World War.
It’s a lot bigger, more insidious and more effective than blanketing lawns and roadsides with election signage.
The idea of a bunch of trolls running governments is pretty scary. At best trolls are pranksters and aren’t known for taking much of anything seriously. At worst they’re virulent hatemongers.
But then… could the same not be said about any number of established politicians? It’s not hard to find track records of corruption, cronyism, promotion of racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc., and doing anything but standing up for the little guy.
Perhaps the troll is in the eye of the beholder?
Traditionally, success in politics has required the right background, connections, and plenty of money. It’s been a very exclusive club for a very particular kind of people. But that club never represented the majority of the world, and it represents fewer and fewer people with every election cycle.
Kim Kataguiri and Fernando Holiday, two of the newly elected 22-year-olds in Brazil, featured in the first Buzzfeed News piece linked, are people of colour, and Holiday is gay. They’re also MBL members (“like the Brazilian Breitbart” to quote the article). An organization described that way wouldn’t be my first choice of government representation...
But at the same time, when one argues that we need more diversity in politics (and most places), you have to mean diversity. Not just people who may not quite look like you, but are still expected to share all your views and values. That’s not how democracy works (when it works).
Of course, candidates with divergent views and controversial rhetoric are one thing. Trolls are something else. How do you even know what they actually want, stand for, and will work toward when their defining raison d’etre is, as the kids used to say, “for the lulz”... and presumably YouTube ad revenue?
How are you supposed to trust that your vote isn’t being turned into a complex prank, or won’t directly contribute to hurting those more marginalized or vulnerable than you?
Except that we’ve always had the responsibility to do that research. It’s not really any different just because the candidates are younger and the information channels have changed.
If you’ll excuse a moment’s navel gazing, I see my generation as the transitional one between the old and new guards. We’ve grown up with the way politics have “traditionally” been done, knocking on doors and debates on TV and lots of white men in suits. We were also in our teens before the internet was broadly adopted, and adults when social media took over the world.
We embrace online resources, including for elections, but the resources we use probably seem painfully old school to those younger than us. (Watching debates on YouTube and reading campaign info on websites.)
We have also become ever more disillusioned by public scandals and corruption and a general increase in muckraking and other ugliness. We’re used to how democracy often manifests itself, but we don’t like it.
At our age, though, we’re not the ones to craft a political revolution. But we do have a responsibility to try and keep up.
It’s entirely possible that YouTubers entering politics aren’t just trolls, makeup tutorialists and ASMR artists. It’s also entirely possible that the actual target audience of the YouTubers who enter politics are and will be just fine. They’ve grown up in this online world and know how it works and how to make it work for them.
Perhaps to them it’s clear as day when a celeb/candidate is actually fired up about an issue they care about, versus when they’re just trying to be incendiary to get more views. Perhaps they’d roll their eyes at the idea that anyone would have trouble understanding when a meme was propaganda and when it was just to make people laugh.
I hope so. There are way more of them than there are of us, and candidates who stick with old-school methods of campaigning and reaching audiences are going to be out of luck.
Not that long ago candidates often arrogantly assumed their skeletons would stay in the closet because journalism and breaking news only happened in certain ways, and there were certain gentlemen’s agreements that kept those doors closed. Then came Twitter.
A decade from now, who knows how the game will be played and won in politics? Perhaps the candidates who don’t have holograms that we can debate with in the comfort of our own homes will be the out-of-touch ones. Or we’ll have jettisoned the idea of people running governments altogether and it’ll be AIs stumping for votes.
If we still get to vote…
M-Theory is an opinion column by Melanie Baker. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Communitech. Melle can be reached @melle or me@melle.ca.
