Could Do Better

The political report card for politicians looking to appear as if they’re a part of the ‘now’ generation, by putting a picture & a few bland words on MySpace, can only read ‘Could Do Better’.

Following a derisive backhander to Joe Hockey’s effort from the Insiders crew this morning, I thought I’d take a quick look. A very quick look. Trust me, MySpace is not somewhere you really want to hang around. A little like a back alley at 3:00am in Fortitude Valley. The one benefit being a distinct lack of urine smell. There is one funny aspect to the whole pollies-in-the-ether thing.

Bob Brown’s Effort
Collective Liberals
Kevin Rudd’s Site
Funny, don’t you think, dear reader, that the Liberal Party’s impact site has attracted 8 friends, while Rudd has over 4,500?!! Even Bob Brown out-friends the conservative effort at presence creation. Frankly, if that’s conservatism in blogland, then I’m afraid they failed basics. Whether the same can be said for Rudd’s effort or not, depends on your perspective. A scan across a couple of the so-called ‘friends’ indicates that my impressions of MySpace may well be all wrong, but I’m not backing away just yet. What is interesting are the sheer numbers of people who have connected, simply to add an encouraging comment. Does this say something about Labor’s position in the polls currently?
Now, I’ll go on record stating that I don’t regard MySpace as a viable breeding ground for politically astute, socially aware people. MySpace is certainly a breeding ground, but what for exactly, I’ve never managed to decide. Some might say malcontents, budding head-banger guitar players or clubbing groupies. Other’s might disagree, but as a platform for appealing to the young and impressionable on a political level? Oh please!!!
Yes, pollies, you can certainly do better. For starters, you could get serious about engaging in the ‘sphere, rather than simply posting bills advertising your next gig. If you’re wanting to really engage, and I doubt you really do, then take a leaf from Andrew Bartlett. You could do a hell of a lot worse. In fact, I believe you already are.