Algorithmic Politics- politics does not belong to streets anymore.
Before the emergence of social media politics belonged to streets. If you want show strength back then you have to take the streets for power show but With the emergence of social and digital media in our daily lives, politics is no more an exception. Anybody from anywhere can be the part of algorithmic politics. Social media runs on hashtags algorithm which links the same hashtags worldwide and user can the part of that specific hashtags by writing few words.. More than half of the world population is social media user which counts in number is 4.7 billion. In the past 15 years social media has become the most influential and opinion building tool. Wide use of different meme materials, hashtags, social media trends and viral things are transforming the conventional politics to a larger extent. Social media is playing a pivotal role in the political discourse now-a-days. A number of social media platforms have employed algorithms that work in line with the trend, with Twitter being on the top of the list which is widely used for the achievement of the political goals.
The twitter’s algorithm work in a way that it can amplify your voice while silence the voice of your opponents in politics. Hashtags here are the ones that create the difference. For instance, starting a hashtag trend against the policies of the state by a specific political party can indirectly advertise about that political party and at the same time can fulfil the cause behind the trend. Social media policing and strategy is now part and parcel of a political party’s agenda.
Memes also play a part in the formulation of minds; these are the humorous concepts that are spread through the internet which create a great impact and are very thought provoking. Being a Pakistani the last year was a roller coaster ride for all of us. A paradigm shift has been seen in public opinion in the support of Ex Prime Minister Imran khan who has been ousted from premiership through vote of no confidence. The biggest digital Twitter Trend #امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظر was run by Pakistanis. And millions of people retweeted this hashtags to support Imran khan and for criticising the establishment and opposition party. Pakistan Tehreek_a_insaf has become the biggest political party of present time and it just took 8 years to do that. It all happened after the emergence of social media in Pakistan. Algorithmic politics is the new normal of present time.
Algorithms could be fatal sometimes because a single intervention from hacking individual could take down the whole algorithm. We all have heard the disruptions in social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that server down is also caused by algorithmic intervention.
#politicadonotbelongtostreetsanymore
Bibliography
Huszár, F., Ktena, S.I., O’Brien, C., Belli, L., Schlaikjer, A. and Hardt, M. (2021). Algorithmic amplification of politics on Twitter. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(1), p.e2025334119. doi:10.1073/pnas.2025334119.
Working of algorithms used in government decision-making to be revealed. (2021). The Guardian. [online] 29 Nov. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/29/working-of-algorithms-used-in-government-decision-making-to-be-revealed [Accessed 11 Dec. 2021].