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The rise of tribalism diminishes us all
Posted by Tracey Cheetham (@tchee)
Tuesday, 23rd February 2010
This week, personal conduct has been at the forefront of people’s minds, thanks to the loose lips of Christine Pratt and creative interpretation of the word “allegation” by Andrew Rawnsley. The fervour with which this issue has been seized upon by the opposition is understandable, who would pass by such a gilt-edged opportunity to gain political capital, this close to an election?
Leaving aside the allegations themselves and the blatant breach of confidentiality that has likely destroyed the National Bullying Helpline, what has been the overall effect on the electorate? Calls for an investigation seem fairly reasonable to me – shouldn’t ALL allegations of bullying be fully investigated anyway? I would have expected that someone from the Cabinet Office would have been able to say, as they have done previously, that there had been X number of allegations, of which, Y number had been upheld and disciplinary action taken or Z number had been rejected and no action taken. But, with or without an investigation, it is still far too early to say if there has been an impact on the narrowing polls.
The Conservatives are rubbing their hands together with glee at the prospect of damaging the Prime Minister's reputation and making him more unpopular at a time when Cameron’s approval rating has fallen by half since September 2009. Is this the only impact of stories such as this though? With a large section of the electorate not exercising their right to vote and disengagement at sky-high levels, will stories like this – and the reaction to them – only serve to confirm the low esteem in which many people hold politics and politicians as a whole?
This impact is reflected on the many social media platforms; Twitter for example, is a good reflection of the feelings of party activists and many of them who use Twitter as a point of political discourse frequently cross swords and enjoy a good, spirited debate. For most of us, there is a line we automatically draw and would not dream of crossing, for this is where one enters the realm of personal attacks and insults.
The imminence of the General Election is the likely cause of the rise in tribalism on Twitter and there has certainly been an increase in…I’m going to call it passion, in recent weeks. There is a cross party consensus on the need for greater respect among online activists, and opinion formers like Anthony Painter ask pertinent questions about the impact of negative on-line battles. I personally think that the impact of Twitter on the general electorate is negligible but if the facile partisan swipes and tribalistic posturing continue, it could have a far deeper and more damaging effect on some of the activists that the parties currently take for granted.
