On truth and lies in Axess TV

 I did a half-hour interview on Axess Television that is now available on YouTube. In the interview, with Sam Leith, I talk about truth, political communication and the contemporary media landscape and when I watched just now I was struck by the sinister setting, dark in all senses of the word, and that I might come of as a bit of a nihilist when it comes to the value of truth... Well, I do believe in truth – I just don't think it is not as important for either senders or receivers of communication as you might think. And I do believe that a brighter future is ahead.

Min presentation på Ungdomsstyrelsens rikskonferens

Jag deltog i ett seminarium på Ungdomsstyrelsens rikskonferens om sociala medier och ungas inflytande tillsammans med Pia Brundin och Tobias Olsson idag. Jag pratade om vilka möjligheter som sociala medier - trots allt! - innebär för det politiska deltagandet i samhället och om att vi kan se ganska positivt på framtidens demokrati.

Här är min presentation: http://prezi.com/kay9cvpdymmx/underbara-dagar-framfor-oss-politiskt-deltagande-och-sociala-medier/

Sokrates och nya medier

Jag läser, med stor behållning, Nancy Bayms Personal Connections in the Digital Age och påminns (på sidan 25) om vad Sokrates sa om skrivkonsten. I Platons dialog Faidros återger Sokrates en historia från Egypten om att guden Thoth uppfann skrivkonsten bland mycket annat och berättade om sina uppfinningar för farao, varpå denne svarade:

Ty denna din uppfinning skall skapa glömska i lärjungars själar, enär de ej skola komma att odla sitt minne; ty i förtröstan på skriften skola de hämta minne utifrån, från de främmande tecknen och ej från sitt eget inre. Din uppfinning hjälper dem ej att få ett gott minne, utan ersätter deras eget dåliga minne. Du skaffar ej dina lärjungar sanningen utan blott ett sken av sanning. De skola få höra mycket men ingenting lära; de skola inbilla sig veta mycket och dock i allmänhet vara okunniga; de skola bliva odrägliga att umgås med, sedan de blivit självkloka i stället för kloka.

Varpå Faidros svarar:

Sokrates, det är en lätt sak för dig att hitta på historier från Egypten eller från vilket annat land som helst.

Spola fram 2400 år och vi kan säga det samma om, tja, välj själva. Jag hittade ett utdrag från dialogen som innehåller mina citat här.

Social media is important, but not the way you think it is

I attended the "Preconference for the EU 5th Ministerial eGovernment Conference. eGovernment Research and Innovation: Empowering Citizens through Government Services across Sectors and Borders" in Malmö on Wednesday this week. I had the pleasure of doing a co-presentation with Sofie and Johan from PWC, who had crafted a study on youth involvement in politics via social media - partly based on a draft version of a book chapter I wrote soon to appear in print. The presentation is here.

The report is getting at least some media attention in Sweden, so I'll put my comments here, as delivered on 18th November. The text is based on my notes.

I have four points to make.

1) Cultural differences

It is important to remember that when interpreting results from nation-based surveys of this kind, you have to take cultural differerences into account. You could actually take Sweden as a most-likely case for youth involvement online. High penetration rates of social media and traditionally high involvement of citizens in civil society, high levels of social trust and high electoral turnout make Sweden a special country.

2) The online-offline divide is pointless

I also believe that we should regard the Internet and social media not as an arena seperate from other channels of communication or life in general. We are talking about a seamless stream of interactions taking place on a number of platforms, but relations, attitudes and interests for individuals are stable over these platforms. This conference should not be about "eGovernment" and "eParticipation" - it should be about GOVERNMENT and PARTICIPATION!

People frequently underrate "new" forms of involvement, but that does not mean that they are right. A woman I interviewed told me that the political mobilisation attempts in Facebook were of no use. "So I got this invitation to join a group to condemn the local transport agency for selling ad space to religious conservatives, but that wouldn't make any difference, so I called them in person to speak my mind." And with that, she was in effect stating the importance of Facebook mibilisation.

3) Identity management might have indirect effects on political behaviour

Also, expressing political views on social network sites is regarded by most people as shrewd identity management, but in making politics and political views a part of your public identity, you come to view yourself as a politically engaged person. And that might mean something.

4) "Young people" are not a homogeneous group

Finally, we cannot view "young people" or "citizens" as a homogeneous group. Individuals have different backgrounds, motives, interests, skills and so on.

Everything we know about political participation tells us that education, age, and socio-economic status are much more important factors determining whether you will engage - not whether you have a Facebook account or not. In order to foster widespread participation among young people we need to start with providing equal opportunities for engagement - and that means providing good education and well-paid, inspiring jobs for all.

Thank you.