Surinaamse Verkiezingen
Unwillingness to digitize can lead to loss of election
Elections in Suriname are always accompanied by great music, dance, etc.
Surinamese love for festivities is no secret. The election celebrations are a part of our culture, and there is nothing wrong with that. Political parties have always used the same methods to motivate their base through mass meetings and has previously worked. But in this digital age I miss the optimal use of social media like Twitter Facebook, Youtube Hyves etc. There are some political parties that have a website without a purpose, because they think: "most people have no internet so why should I bother?just put up a website for the show" The bigger political parties are present on various social media sites, but have "in my opinion" far from taking advantage of social media, which certainly will not happen anymore now that the election date is approaching (25th of may 2010). Lets take the NPS presence on Twitter into account. They are just following 10 people and are followed by only 32.Only 145 friends on Hyves while many young Surinamese are member of this site. You wonder where the supporters of the NPS are. On Facebook it is better with the NPS, there are to date 29 Mar 2010: 248 Friends of the NPS. The NDP has 123 followers on Twitter, and it followed zero people. A strategy that is used by celebrities, but if you only have 123 followers you could easily follow them all and show you are really interested in what they do.
On Facebook the NDP has 130 friends,this shows that they don't take this medium seriously, because face book is full with young Surinamese who are eligible to vote. On the Mega Combination Hyves is quite aggressive in doing their blog feed, motivational Youtube video clips, etc. The result is that they have about 600 fans. They can reach them easily and directly, with the click of the mouse. That's how it's done in the 21st century. Unfortunately, by the reluctance to digitize our leaders failed to provide most Surinamese with affordable internet connection. We have already noted that most young people depend on Internet cafes, because their parents can not afford to have internet at home. Yet the Surinamese youth use this medium every day, and during these elections, the youth vote could be decisive . Mass meetings, are expensive,and so are ads to promote them on the radio, television, and newspapers . Telesur did not facilitate Surinamese with cheaper internet connections, the government did nothing to facilitate other providers who were willing to give Surinamese this opportunity. The banks still have not turned to a digital payment system, to buy or sell online. The business people maintain their "brick and mortar" mentality. Suriname is light years short concealed by ignorance, and unwillingness to digitize. The elections could easily be done digitally. But to do so there is need for future vision,
but there is no party that has this. The small parties had an opportunity with swing voters (like me) to present a digital program of their party, well before the elections. I am still waiting .....
Elections in Suriname are always accompanied by great music, dance, etc.
Surinamese love for festivities is no secret. The election celebrations are a part of our culture, and there is nothing wrong with that. Political parties have always used the same methods to motivate their base through mass meetings and has previously worked. But in this digital age I miss the optimal use of social media like Twitter Facebook, Youtube Hyves etc. There are some political parties that have a website without a purpose, because they think: "most people have no internet so why should I bother?just put up a website for the show" The bigger political parties are present on various social media sites, but have "in my opinion" far from taking advantage of social media, which certainly will not happen anymore now that the election date is approaching (25th of may 2010). Lets take the NPS presence on Twitter into account. They are just following 10 people and are followed by only 32.Only 145 friends on Hyves while many young Surinamese are member of this site. You wonder where the supporters of the NPS are. On Facebook it is better with the NPS, there are to date 29 Mar 2010: 248 Friends of the NPS. The NDP has 123 followers on Twitter, and it followed zero people. A strategy that is used by celebrities, but if you only have 123 followers you could easily follow them all and show you are really interested in what they do.
On Facebook the NDP has 130 friends,this shows that they don't take this medium seriously, because face book is full with young Surinamese who are eligible to vote. On the Mega Combination Hyves is quite aggressive in doing their blog feed, motivational Youtube video clips, etc. The result is that they have about 600 fans. They can reach them easily and directly, with the click of the mouse. That's how it's done in the 21st century. Unfortunately, by the reluctance to digitize our leaders failed to provide most Surinamese with affordable internet connection. We have already noted that most young people depend on Internet cafes, because their parents can not afford to have internet at home. Yet the Surinamese youth use this medium every day, and during these elections, the youth vote could be decisive . Mass meetings, are expensive,and so are ads to promote them on the radio, television, and newspapers . Telesur did not facilitate Surinamese with cheaper internet connections, the government did nothing to facilitate other providers who were willing to give Surinamese this opportunity. The banks still have not turned to a digital payment system, to buy or sell online. The business people maintain their "brick and mortar" mentality. Suriname is light years short concealed by ignorance, and unwillingness to digitize. The elections could easily be done digitally. But to do so there is need for future vision,
but there is no party that has this. The small parties had an opportunity with swing voters (like me) to present a digital program of their party, well before the elections. I am still waiting .....
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