Politicians climbing the social ladder one hit at a time

It seems like everywhere you turn on the internet there is another social networking website taking the internet by storm. Myspace.com paved the way for groups of all sorts to network their identities. Actors, musicians and amateurs and now politicians abound are climbing the social ladder faster than ever with the help of networking sites. The reason for the popularity of such campaign sites is that politicians gain more visibility especially to younger individuals who depend on the internet for a bulk of their information and networking interactions.

British election candidates are currently getting on the social media bandwagon. The liberal Democrats have organised political flashmobs, a Facebook campaign to stop hopeful David Cameron from becoming the prime minister. The site has already attracted 200 000 users. Conservative Tim Montgomerie, is using a more practical approach by using his blog to run a fund raising campaign. On a lighter note, Conservative, Greg Knight, who is a drummer with the Parliamentary band MP4 is using their music for campaign purposes on his website.

South African Youth leader Malema is no stranger to online music. He is known to whip crowds with political chant that many may feel to be a dangerous throwback to apartheid SA. Many internet users however are quite enthusiastic about Malema’s unwitting incursion into music . Various DJs have turned Malema’s outburst against BBC journalist into house music. The tracks often feature his exclamations “agent” and “bastard” scored with a hip hop and house beat. The remixed tracks are being circulated on social networking sites and mobile phones. Another Youtube posting of the track, “Revolutionary house mix by Malema”, has had about 5000 views.