One of my chief concerns today is why so many people choose not to vote or have any interest in politics. In June I decided to experiment. I limited making politically biased comments on FB and Twitter and I changed the theme of my blogs. Instead of writing about social injustice and the failings of this government I wrote lighthearted, slightly satirical, slightly humourous personal experiences. I also sat back and observed my fellow political allies/acquaintances.
Three things happened, my blog readership went from an average of 200 per year to 600 in July alone.
My following increased from nil to 76 between June and July.
Certain influential people unfollowed me on Twitter.
Couple this with a neutral observance of all our Labour Left, FB and Twitter articles and comments, I think I have an answer.
It’s boring, sorry if that offends, but from the average man in the street’s view it is. There is nothing enigmatic in what we say, there is nothing surprising, there is nothing new. It is just a constant stream of criticism of the opposition, or at least this is how it appears to the masses, trust me.
Compare Tony Blair’s speech to conference in 1996 with his ten vows and Neil Kinnock’s pre – 1983 election speech with his 14 warnings. Although I believe Kinnock’s speech was far better, Blairs speech was positive, it gave people hope for the future.
All people want is to be secure, safe and entertained. Sometimes the Left is seen as grey, cold and miserable.
So if socialists want to make a difference, create a more equal society and bring more people on board we are going to have to find a way to make it more interesting, colourful and exciting. Which would you rather have on your mantlepiece, a lump of granite or some Daffodils? 😉
Any chance I could choose a dirty old lump of gold?
Something to think about for my writings, thanks!
Haha, thanks for coming by, there is a lot in the title as well. Normally get 50-80 hits on Saturday, 9 yesterday, was it the word ‘left’ I wonder 😉
Kittens, Charlie. You need kittens. I have found that our society will no longer tolerate more than 2-300 words but will go a very long way if there is a fluffy kitten, or a puppy. Puppies mean prizes, or at least lots and lots of hits.
We are heading, faster than anyone can imagine, towards idiocracy.
Thank you Kate that is so encouraging, a wonderful comment.
I have limited my political comments on Facebook and Twitter because I live in Texas and most of my friends are from Texas. Texas is the land of George W Bush and Rick Perry. To even give the inkling that I may have a different view could very well lead to a tar and feathering. Here in the US of A we are all wound up for the coming election in November. People seem to take it to a level that it doesn’t need to go to. Instead of debating the issues it becomes personal and they question your intelligence, your upbringing, and your mother’s background.
Thankyou for the comment, Texas sounds great 😉
As you say people get lost in the issues. Commonsense seems to diasappear.
Yes. So true, Charlie. I like having a real conversation about the human state of affairs and that includes politics. But, as you say, people feel squishy about their politics. And…thank you for making visit to my blog. Kaukab’s daughter
Your welcome, thankyou for commenting, 😉
I try to make my political tweets as sarcastic as possible. I am a satirist after all!
I’ve started doing just the opposite. My posts have gone from humorous to highly political and as you can tell, I’ve lost pretty much all my regular readers on WordPress. I’m glad you wrote this. Somebody needed to point out that the layman’s lack of political interest is merely the absence of desire to think.
Thankyou Paloma, Kristen Lamb always says that you should never Blog about politics, but sometimes I just can’t help myself 😉