Contested Spaces: Social Media, Big Data and Politics

(Originally posted 23 April 2013)

Being an unfunded full-time PhD student means having to find ways to earn money without long time-commitments. Luckily, King’s offers many temping opportunities that are far more interesting than the usual data entry or envelope stuffing. Last week, I got to be an event assistant at the Contested Spaces conference organised by King’s Policy Institute and eBay. From greeting VIPs in the morning to being a roving microphone, I basically got paid to meet and learn from some of the leading experts in politics and digital media.

 

The conference, focusing on social media, ‘big data’ and politics, had two sides/ Firstly, how politicians can use social media and big data to improve campaigns – for connecting with voters, spreading messages, organising networks of volunteers and tailoring their campaigns to the specific needs of voters identified through the data about ourselves we scatter across the internet. Secondly, what social media can (and can’t) tell us about politics, such as the public reaction to the Arab Spring which has been so widely connected with Twitter in the press.

The event brought together speakers from all over the world, from professors to some serious VIPs in the digital world, including Tod Cohen. Vice-President of eBay, and Jen O’Malley-Dillon, Deputy Campaign Manager for Obama’s re-election. If you’d like to learn more about the link between digital media and politics, videos of all of the panels are available to watch here. You can also listen to Ms O’Malley-Dillon, together with Ian Spencer and Bret Jacobson from Red Edge, discuss What can UK politics learn from the success of ‘Obama 2012’? here.

As you would expect from a conference on digital and social media, the event created quite a buzz on Twitter, as people tweeted their thoughts and questions to the speakers. You can catch up on the conversation from the conference at #ContestedSpaces.

Coalition @ Pleasance Theatre

Having voted Lib Dem at the last election, I have a tiny share in the responsibility for the coalition that is torn to shreds in Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky's new comedy play, which finished its run at the Pleasance Theatre this weekend. Whatever your thoughts on the coalition politically, there's no denying its comic potential.

The first term of the coalition is drawing to an end, and somehow they've made it through. Before the next general election, Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Matt Cooper (Thom Tuck) - Nick Clegg in all but name - is determined to get himself out from the Prime Minister's shadow and assert his authority. The result, through increasingly complicated layers of bartering and betrayal - of people and of principles - is a rapid downward spiral of defections and defeats.

Thom Tuck as Lib Dem Leader and Deputy PM Matt Cooper

Weaving together the political (particularly criticism of the Liberal Democrat's supposed sacrifice of everything they believe in for power) and the comedic, Coalition takes us through the nightmare of constituency surgeries, appeasing back-benchers, fielding incompetent candidates in by-elections and facing the constant glare of public opinion (as compiled and analysed by a blithering PR geek). 

An unnerving Phil Jupitus as Sir Francis Whitford

While the coalition power plays are inherently funny, it's the cast who really make the play. Thom Tuck displays great physical humour as a man on the edge, all fists pumping and eyes bulging. As Sir Francis Whitford, whose only role in cabinet seems to be turning up mysteriously and messing with Liberal Democrat minds, Phil Jupitus was really quite unnerving.  He played everything so drily, recalling real life politicians who don't realise how unwittingly funny they are. Jupitus was not the only famous comedian on stage; equally dry-witted Jo Caulfield played Chief Whip Angela Hornby, who wasn't nearly as dominatrix-y as her job title would suggest, and a little unconvincing as someone in such a position of power, but still amusing.

Jo Caulfield as Lib Dem Chief Whip Angela Hornby

Although Coalition's primary purpose is to make you laugh, the play does prompt questioning of contemporary politics, and we all left discussing how the coalition will really end. My lasting impression of Coalition was that the exercise of power is far more trouble than its worth... but I guess that's why I'm not in politics!