By Refraction

Tag a politician (or, you know, don’t)

Aug 19, 2018 | 5:00 AM

IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ELECTED PEOPLE to be accessible. It needs to be simple and universally possible to contact your representative — whether on a municipal, provincial or federal level — in order to discuss and address legitimate concerns.

That being said, we, the public, should not and do not have the right to instant and unilateral access to our representatives on any platform, for any purpose, just because we want immediate attention.

I’ve noticed what I consider to be a strange, rude and counter-productive trend in the last few years of tagging elected individuals on social media in order to push, pull, drag, bait and force them into public “conversations.”

Often these are not urgent, earth-shattering matters, but are simply the flavour of the day for individuals who would greatly benefit from a reduced amount of time on the internet and increased quality time in nature.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d be the king of hypocrites if I said that we should not advocate for issues, be vocal about our concerns or engage with politicians. For heaven’s sake, I am a very soapbox-y person and I can climb up and preach with the best of them, but advocacy isn’t what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about class.

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By all means, publicly and respectfully talk politics, discuss the issues and make your passionate points. But do you really think tagging an elected person’s personal Facebook profile is the most effective way to win their favour and entice them into caring about the bee that’s currently in your bonnet?

Or is it more likely that the person you’re petitioning will feel exploited so that you can appear well-connected, seem influential and attempt to motivate with public shame? Because that’s how it looks to me.

If something really matters to you and it is appropriate to appeal to a politician, then write a personal email, ask for a meeting, send a private message or even *gasp* make a phone call.

But let’s practice some discernment and discretion when tagging people publicly. (And yes, politicians are people.)

Here are some simple examples that might serve as helpful guidelines in case things are still unclear:

Tag a politician if you:

• know of a human rights violation that is being ignored despite public outcry
• are commenting on a status they posted or are responding to their comment on yours
• have been given permission to tag that person in a politically related post
• are a personal friend and the post has no political affiliation (ie. cat GIFs, golf fails, inspirational videos, well-wishes, etc.)

Don’t tag a politician if you:

• are pounding out a status about how your garbage was picked up late or you have an issue with a bylaw
• don’t like a public policy decision or how they voted
• hope to draw them into an ongoing debate
• feel the need to prove your vast intellect and indulge your superiority complex in a public setting
• see something abusive written about the politician and want to ensure that they see it, too
• want an answer to a question you could actually just google

If those guidelines are too complex or you disagree with them, then just simply consider this: elected people need boundaries, procedures and consideration just like you and I do.

Personally tagging of a city councillor, mayor, MLA or MP in a histrionic social media post will most likely fail to endear you to the person whose notice you so desperately crave.

Rage away, my fine social media friends, but never forget that not all attention is good attention. The things you say and the choices you make all contribute to your reputation – including when tagging people on the internet.