Nowadays slagging politicians off, despising them with the usual “they are all the same” is very usual, even fashionable. I agree they are to be blamed for many things, and surely we would be better off if some of them just stayed home. but putting them all at the same level only serves the worst ones.
Just take for instance the way they keep in contact with electors after the elections. When they need our vote they promise many things, including that they will stay available and close to electors, and most of them don’t do it, but others actually do. In this sense, social network platforms can play an important role, and in fact, the Catalan candidates for the European Parliament (EP) tried their way on Facebook with more or less success in an effort to recruit the maximum number of votes. But what happened after the elections? Well, some have kept their profile updated with the latest news at the European Parliament (what commissions are they working in, what it is like to be seated at the EP, what coalitions are being formed, etc.) while others seem like that haven’t log on Facebook since 7th of June.
In the first group we find Oriol Junqueras (ERC, 2500 friends on Facebook) -who so far has proved very active on Facebook describing what’s going on at the EP- as well as Raül Romeva (ICV, 2631 friends on Facebook) and Ramon Tremosa (CiU, 1901 friends on Facebook), all of them with personal profiles besides other supporting groups and pages. As I wrote after the european elections these three candidates are among the best Catalan candidates and fortunately they all made it to the European Parliament.
In the other group however, there are the two candidates of the main Spanish parties, which after the elections have just vanished. Maria Badia (PSOE) will come back in five years time asking for our vote exactly in the same way she came in the last elections: being a complete unknown. Of course, she doesn’t have a personal profile and only two groups of support, with 1.229 and 11 (!) members respectively: whatever little activity she had on Facebook before the elections has disappeared after them. But Alejo Vidal-Quadras (PP) is not doing much better. By Alejo Vidal-Quadras he’s got three groups on Facebook, with 13, 16, and 144 members respectively. Sad enough for him, the last group tittle is “Alejo go home“. By Aleix Vidal-Quadras (Catalan way for Alejo) there are three groups, with 379, 54 and 151 members respectively. This time however, it is only the group of 54 members the one that is not very happy about him.
Being active on Facebook doesn’t mean you are a good and honest politician, but together with other evidence, it helps to spot those who are committed to their duties and responsibilities from those who, once have their seat and their monthly salary, simply disappear from the public scene.
