The Increasing Significance of Popular Culture within Politics.
Over the last decade, the growth and impact of social media has been so exceptional that acknowledging it seems like pointlessly stating the obvious. Simultaneously, the surge has also seen the potency of related online content such as memes and gifs also grow.
As a consequence, this has led to social media transcending the traditional and orthodox mediums such as newspapers, radio, and even television to be the main and most important device of communication, especially in regard to press & PR.
Share of respondents that use social media every day in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2007 to 2015* -
Sourced from the Statistic Portal.
The chart above shows that from 2007 to 2015, the daily use of social media has increased a tremendous 51%. That is a staggering statistic.
Now, how does this relate to the ‘Increasing Significance of Popular Culture within Politics’?
We must recognise that despite the growth in usage, social media remains a youth-powered and driven phenomenon. For example, a 2017 study found that ‘90% of UK Instagram users are under 35’. We must also understand that popular culture is also youth driven; it is created by youth, curated by youth and consumed by youth. In fact, social media and popular culture very much go hand in hand, with social media being the main avenue for the communication of content as well as the undisputed creative engine for pop culture, with user-generated content such as memes and gifs achieving greater and greater reach.
Politicians or their respective public relations teams, have reacted to the increasing significance of social media as the most important medium of media and communication, by strategically aligning themselves with popular culture in an effort to develop a substantial presence within the social media space and subsequently proliferate awareness of their political party or even themselves and extend their reach to the pertaining demographics who are active on social media platforms. Who are the most substantial and significant demographic, active on social media? As aforementioned earlier in the article, the youth.
Politicians have embraced popular culture when it was previously panned and frowned upon, in an effort to appeal to and engage youth, with political participation amongst 18–24-year-olds until very recently being a prominent issue. As a result, they hope to achieve greater access to a much larger electorate and thus improve their chance of success in their political career.
The most notable example of a politician successfully utilising popular culture and effectively maneuvering within the social media space is our very own Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party and the Shadow Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I will pay particular attention to his efforts during the campaign for the 2017 General Election.
Despite Corbyn and his party’s defeat in the election, we must not overlook the underlying success of his campaign; Corbyn was indeed very successful in achieving the political objective I highlighted earlier in the article: ‘to appeal to and engage youth’, “young people turned out to vote in the 2017 UK general election in greater numbers than at any other point for 25 years” with “64 percent of registered voters aged 18–24” turning out to vote. This is a stunning statistic, and it will be far from an exaggeration to attribute this to the effective campaign executed by Corbyn and his team. In fact, 60 out of 64% of those aged 18–24 voted for Jeremy Corbyn’s party, to say that Corbyn got the ‘youth vote’ would be an incredible understatement. How did Corbyn manage to achieve such as feat that many a politician has failed to do in the last 3 decades? He has done what politicians have previously been reluctant to do, by aligning himself with popular culture, and it the process endearing himself to the youth.
The most notable example of this is ‘#grime4corbyn movement’, the infamous endorsement of his campaign by Grime MC, JME.
In an interview produced by i-D magazine, a publication owned a Vice Media, a youth-focused editorial brand. JME encourages his fans and young people alike to become more politically active. However what is interesting is that the subject matter of the conversation held between both public figures extends beyond social and economic policy and delves into the depths of urban culture and arts. From the start of the interview, Corbyn expresses a genuine interest in JME’s career in music and how he has found himself to be an MC today. This represents a stark contrast to the cultural disparity that has arguably been the cause of the alienation and consequently the political apathy of the youth. Despite the positive developments, this alliance faced harsh criticism from the right-wing opposition and subsequent attacks from the affiliated press.
Nevertheless despite criticism Corbyn has continued to enthral the youth through his strategic employment of popular culture, even post general election. Recently, during an interview with Novara Media, he expressed his rather formal rendition of comedian Micheal Dappah’s lyrics from his viral hit ‘Man not Hot’, a drill inspired composition, another genre in the space of urban culture and arts.
This shows that Corbyn is not only aligning himself with popular culture but he is openly and willingly embracing it. That being said, we must never overlook the agenda. Corbyn’s embrace of popular culture also has the very functional purpose of appealing to the youth, engaging them, encouraging them out of political apathy and consequently gaining access to a much wider electorate. In fact, he has been so successful in doing this, it has been mooted that if the general election was hosted online, a space dominated by youth, that Corbyn would indeed have been victorious in the 2017 UK General Election.
It must be noted that Corbyn is not first to use such tactics, nor will he be the last. Borish Johnson’s has also utilised a similar strategy with his purposefully self-satirising image, with a humorous tone and charismatic touch that has earnt him much acclaim and appreciation amongst demographics beyond the typical grassroots Conservative support. Especially, amongst young people, as there are even many who embrace him simply because of his entertainment value. Despite his critics, it is impossible to argue against his growth and achievement in his political career. He was not afraid to juxtapose the typical or orthodox image of the traditional politician, and in the process has become a figure of popular culture and has inserted himself into the political conversations that young people are having. With social media being the medium of communication, Johnson has capitalised on this by amplifying his impact and reach, becoming Britains most ‘mememable’ politician.
As a result, he continues to galvanise conversation by creating a cultural impact that has become popular amongst the youth.
As political participation amongst young people continues to grow, politicians can no longer afford to overlook them, this would mean a failure to mobilise a substantial part of the electorate and thus damage their prospects in the election. Employing popular culture has proven to be one of the most effective means of appealing to and engaging the youth, especially within a time and space wherein social media is very significant. More and more politicians have begun to grasp this formula.
In the future, I believe popular culture will become even more integrated and involved in politics, as a consequence the youth will become less apathetic and more eager to be involved.
Richie Babalola. Storyteller // I write, create & document.
Socials: @richiebabalola
Email: richie.babalola@gmail.com
References:
