The sooner we realise that we’re living in an ever-changing and evolving world, the sooner we would be able to start relating to those around us. Today’s youths don’t see the world we live in a two-colour tone, red or blue. They see it in shades. There’s no such thing as the perfect political party and, just as much, there’s also no such thing as an evil political party and today’s youths, unlike many of the hard-core supporters, can very easily see this.
We need to be in a position to change and to adapt our message to suit our youths. However, we also need to respect them and to adapt ourselves without pretending that they should make any effort to hear our message.
In the 1980s and 1990s, in order to pass on an important message to large groups of people one used calling lists, where one person calls another, who calls yet another to pass on the message, and so on. In late 1990s and early 2000s we used mIRC and MSN to communicate in groups and get a message across.
Fast forward to 2016 and communication has evolved so much that today we use multiple platforms to communicate with our peers. Whatsapp groups, Facebook chats and groups are the new norm. It’s so easy to keep in contact with a group of people through Whatsapp or Facebook that in today’s world we can’t imagine ourselves without them. It’s high time that we evolve further and start using these mediums to pass on our message.
Today’s world has evolved in such a way that even myself, only 29 years old, still feel ancient when compared to today’s 17-year-olds. They live in a world far different from the world we live in. What interests them might not be of interest to us and I’m sure that what is interesting for us, might not be that interesting for them and guess what? That’s okay!
It’s okay to be different and it’s okay that today’s youths are talking a different language than ours. We can’t force them to listen to us but we can adapt ourselves and reinvent ourselves in order to make ourselves marketable to today’s youths.
I was recently having a conversation with a resident in Msida and he told me that he doesn’t believe that mainstream politics should change the way the message is delivered. At that moment I took out my phone and told him to scroll my Instagram and Facebook feeds. I asked him to identify how many youths were actually sharing political topics and, as expected, the result was almost none.
That clearly shows us that we need to change the way we come across and we need to reinvent ourselves in order to be better marketed to the young generation. In today’s world people are making money off Instagram and Youtube by creating cool and fun videos.
This was definitely something that we never dreamt of a few years ago but today apparently it’s possible to make a career out of this. That of course makes us realise that Instagram, Youtube and Facebook live are the tools that people want to use.
The forthcoming general election in Malta is going to be fought on many different binaries. Government corruption surely is the most important aspect, however social media is going to be a make-or-break medium. Now is the time to get up to scratch, rope in as many young people as possible to help us improve social interaction and start making the best out of it.
Love it or hate it social media is part of our lives. Politics needs to evolve with times and become more social media-friendly otherwise we are going to be left in a situation where politics becomes even more irrelevant than it already is for the younger generations.
Alan Abela-Wadge is a PN general candidate on the 9th and 10th districts, president of PN College of Councillors and a member of PN Administrative Council.