AusPol101: Young people are a demographic that few understand, but the Greens have cracked the code.

 

 

I’ve always held firm to the belief that political parties have a terrible grasp on advertisements via social media, and this election has made me double down on it. I feel like I’m being stalked by out-of-touch old men, whether it be a TikTok of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg jumping in 2x speed or Clive Palmer’s sweaty face on my YouTube ads. At this point it’s my most rational fear that I’ll be woken from my rain sounds in the middle of the night to the nails-on-chalkboard sound that is One Nation’s newest campaign song.

 

 

 

 

But I make one exception to this belief – The Greens. Whether you agree with their policies or not, it only takes one visit to their social media to see how successful their campaigning is. It works because it has to, where other larger parties can rely on prime-time ads on TV, the Greens utilise the internet as their main advertisement source. And with this year’s record enrolment numbers and 1.6 million voters aged 18-24, they’ve tapped into an audience that others have only scratched the surface on.

 

There are two key factors to this success: who posts for them and how they post. Where other parties feature top-down hierarchal structures where a post has to pass through multiple party officials, the Greens have passed almost all control over to young people because they understand that’s what they do best. In doing so, whilst others fell flat, they grabbed the chaos that is the internet by the reigns and took control of the conversation.

 

The biggest strategic difference between the Greens and the major parties is their ability to collaborate with online communities and creators. Rather than the more common approach to pay for a sponsored post, which will more than likely result in the viewer clicking “not interested”, the Greens work more organically with local supporters who have accumulated large followings of people with the same views. It’s a mutually beneficial low-cost agreement, much like the common political “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” situation sans the corruption. When the party reshares the creator’s content it brings their audience over to those pages, and as such the pages will often reshare infographics to their viewers. It also makes the politicians who do such seem a lot more relatable and human, which in turn will increase their engagement and pique the public’s interest. One of the most recent of these collaborations appears to be a reshare of Greens Senator Nick McKim telling Malcolm Roberts to “shut up and eat the bugs” on Australian Green Memes for Actually Progressive Teens, which has so far received almost 600 reactions and 15 shares.

 

 

 

 

But what really holds this whole operation together is leader Adam Bandt, who has managed to form a strong, well-established internet presence. Where his predecessor Richard Di Natale lacked his own personality away from his party and fell to the background, Bandt shines. Versatility is a key characteristic in politicians, albeit a rare one, and Bandt transforms from an informational, serious leader for his older audiences, to your average shit-poster with ease. A favourite of mine from his personal Facebook page was a short and sweet Facebook post from the 20^th of April captioned “how good are kebabs? Also, happy 420.” While this is certainly on theme with the party’s plan to regulate, tax and legalise cannabis in Australia, it’s the ability to hit his target audience in an actually comedic way that stands out much more than an infographic ever could.

 

 

 

But it’s an important task, getting young people to vote has been a serious issue in the past, with only 85.4% of young voters being enrolled in comparison to the national average of 96.5%. Young people copped a lot of blame for “turning their back on Australia” in the 2019 election, despite the country having the lowest voter turnout since mandatory voting was introduced. But that sentiment follows a pattern, young people are often brushed off and invalidated in politics, and how are they expected to be engaged when they are constantly disillusioned by politicians? The Greens have provided a solution to this over the last few months, bridging the gap and showing that the social and environmental issues these voters care about are an integral part of their party’s policies.

 

 

 

 

Read Grace Mackenzie’s other AusPol101 columns HERE.

 

 

To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.

 

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?

And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE.

One-off financial contribution – CLICK HERE.

Regular financial contribution (monthly EFT) – CLICK HERE.