How does #nzpol do on Facebook?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, February 10th, 2015 - 19 comments
Categories: david cunliffe, interweb, john key - Tags: , , , , , ,

Feinstein Doak has a post up with the Top Political Facebook Posts of 2014, and the results are interesting:

  • John Key, unsurprisingly given that his Facebook page has over 180,000 likes, dominates with 5 of the top 10 posts
  • But the top post – with a staggering 14,000 likes and 475 shares – is a lovely, genuine update from Jacinda Ardern about assembling a roadtrip with some other stranded travellers trying to get to Auckland
  • At #9, David Cunliffe’s resignation was obviously big news, but no one else from the Left got this level of cut-through
  • But the remaining 3? All Winston, baby.

It seems to defy conventional wisdom about (a) the uptake of social media by ~older generations~ and (b) the demographics of Winston’s fanbase. That being said, it thoroughly plays into the idea of Winston as New Zealand’s ultimate populist politician – always saying exactly what people want to hear.

19 comments on “How does #nzpol do on Facebook? ”

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  1. Sabine 1
    10 February 2015 at 11:20 am

    Or maybe Winston Peters just says what all the others don’t want to say? Hone was the other one who often said what no one wanted said, lest there be ruffled feathers and other unpleasantness.

    My best friend, for ever a Green/Labour voter…Voted Winston Peters this time around. Not because she thinks he is that awesome and will have a difference, but because HE will speak up to all and not just some. Maybe she has a point.

    There are too many Yes – sayer in the benches, and they come blue, red, green and muddy waters.
    Very few of them will ruffle feathers, even less will speak up.

    • weka 1.1
      10 February 2015 at 11:31 am

      “My best friend, for ever a Green/Labour voter…Voted Winston Peters this time around. Not because she thinks he is that awesome and will have a difference, but because HE will speak up to all and not just some. Maybe she has a point.”

      I do wish left wing voters would vote for parties that will actually form a left wing govt. For all Peters’ vocalising abilities, he’s not left wing. Worse, he actively works to prevent left wing govts forming. People who vote for him who want a left wing govt need to wake up.

      It’s going to be blooding interesting to see what happens to NZ politics when Peters finally retires.

      • Sabine 1.1.1
        10 February 2015 at 12:51 pm

        Winston Peters is where he is because of the inability of the left wing to form government.

        The last election, heck Peter effn Dunne is the prime example of the inability of the left wing parties to not only speak to each other but to act together.

        To occupied to be purists, however I think it is easy to lament poverty and homelessness when one is occupied and paid well.

        Winston Peters is not at fault for the uselessness of the left wing parties.

        • weka 1.1.1.1
          10 February 2015 at 1:18 pm

          That’s a gross oversimplification. NZF exists because Peters left a National govt, and as been playing the left and the right against each other ever since, and doing it in deceitful and anti-democratic ways. Whatever one things about him as a powerful politician who doesn’t shirk from saying what he wants or doing what he wants, he’s had a huge negative influence on NZ politics. That’s nothing to do with the left’s performance.

          It’s also muddying things to conflate things like the problems within Labour to everyone on the left. Whatever the situation with Dunne at the last election, nothing was going to be possible until the neoliberal elephant in Labour’s living room had been dealt with.

          “Winston Peters is not at fault for the uselessness of the left wing parties.”

          No he’s not. But he is responsible for his anti-Mana stance, and his anti-GP stance. He believes that democracy is served by preventing the left from being in govt and actively excluding the parties he disapproves of (GP, Mana).

          So when people vote for him, that is what they are voting for. Irrespective of what the left parties are doing, there is no way around the fact that Peters is not left wing and actively works against it.

          • Colonial Rawshark 1.1.1.1.1
            10 February 2015 at 5:48 pm

            If Labour had it’s way Mana and the Greens would be permanently sidelined as well.

            And it’s pretty undemocratic to say that a party with almost 9% of the vote isn’t a valid or useful player in our democracy.

            Peters has figured out how to pick up socially conservative votes from both the left and the right, and in NZ that makes him a political player to be reckoned with.

            • weka 1.1.1.1.1.1
              10 February 2015 at 7:05 pm

              I didn’t say that about NZF. I said Peters is anti democratic, and that left wing voters need to understand what they are voting for. I’ll be interested to see what NZF do once Peters is gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are more cooperative.

              • Colonial Rawshark …
                10 February 2015 at 7:31 pm

                Left wing voters are pretty smart. They know what they are voting for. And they know when NZ Labour isn’t delivering something worth voting for.

                • weka …
                  10 February 2015 at 7:35 pm

                  Sorry CV, but that’s a nonsense 🙂 Some left wing voters are smart, some aren’t. Some know what they are voting for, some don’t. I still know people who don’t understand how MMP works.

                  As for shifting from Labour to NZF, sure. But my point still stands. If you want a left wing govt, Peters is not left wing and actively works against left wing parties.

          • Pete George 1.1.1.1.2
            10 February 2015 at 7:29 pm

            He believes that democracy is served by preventing the left from being in govt and actively excluding the parties he disapproves of (GP, Mana).

            That’s kinda how elections and coalition building in a democracy works isn’t it? I don’t see many politicians actively trying to include parties they don’t like.

            And it would appear the voters saw less risk for New Zealand in a Government that included NZF than a Government with too much Green or a Government with any Internet-Mana.

            Like it or not parties competing for the centre and voters in the centre have more say than those on the fringes.

  2. Ovid 2
    10 February 2015 at 11:22 am

    In the US the number of Facebook users over 55 has grown by over 80% in the three years to 2014. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a similar trend in NZ. So it’s a good tool for Winston to capitalise on.

    I think Twitter has a lot more cut-through for the left. There’s a lot more scope for communication between strangers on the #nzpol tag there and some genuinely funny one-liners too.

  3. swordfish 3
    10 February 2015 at 5:17 pm

    the demographics of Winston’s fanbase

    As I said back in December 2010….http://thestandard.org.nz/nzf-poll-is-wrong/#comment-277609