Can Instagram be a force in Public Affairs?

No. There you have it, so no need to read the rest of the 600 words below. But the long answer is a bit less straightforward, and indeed I do think that instagram has a role to play in the arsenal of weapons for anyone dealing in political communications. But it comes with some strings attached so if you still want to give instagram a go for your issues, framing and nudging please continue reading.

The big hurdle

To understand why instagram is difficult to use for Public Affairs we need to dive into the core of the problem. Instagram is foremost a visual tool to promote individuals or lifestyles. Public Affairs communications always centers around a core issue. So PA runs into trouble because trying to attract followers based on a string of pictures surrounding an issue will be difficult. Lets be honest, few will be inclined to follow an account filled with pictures of generic medicines or privacy activists demonstrating. The core problem you need to solve is how to attract people to your account that might not be interested in your issue in the first place or not even in politics in general (not interested in politics, who are those people???). Bare in mind that you are competing (visually speaking) with cats, Kim Kardashian, Bali and foodporn. So why in heaven's name would people follow an account trying to inform people about the right energy mix or food safety standards.

Two workarounds

There are two ways to work around this problem. The first is to have a person-based approach. Basically its means having someone who is willing (and paid) to be the face of your issue. This person has to be interesting enough to grow and engage with an audience. While this seems wildly out of the box we have seen some interesting examples in the form of civil servants, policemen and foresters having a personal account where they also promote their organization, their missions or organizations. They key word is (I hate this word as much as you do) "authentic". It has to be someone who lives, breathes and sleeps your issue or organization AND be interesting enough to mobilize people.

The second workaround is to have an account that is visually spectaculair, appealing and interesting but does not necessary explain or further your issue. This works a bit like sponsoring events or organizing reach out events that not necessarily hardcore promote your issue. Think of an energy company managing and promoting a account of European festivals or a nutrition company posting pornfood.

Yeah but it's the future!

If you go on the internet there are plenty of people (read paid-consultants) that will tell you that Instagram is the future of political campaigning. For example here is a 11 minute video explaining absolutely nothing. And it seems that I am not the only one to come to that conclusion. A study by the University of Missouri-Columbia concluded that people shy away from using instagram for political or controversial issues; "Many people view Instagram as an oasis where they can escape from the troubles and concerns of everyday life." But how about account like that of Amnesty International. They have mass followings, right? Indeed, Amnesty already has a committed group of "followers" to begin with. It will be more difficult for starting NGO's or upcoming issues.

Why I am stillagramming

However I am still dedicating resources (time bassicly) to instagram. I think that the indirect impact of a good account does yield enough benefits to be committed for the coming time. Having good associations with your issue or the people advocating for an issue can give that little needed nudge to grow awareness. I also think it has potential where issues are location based. People are interested in issues firmly grounded in their local habitat and the local also lends itself for visual communications. Somehow, my gut feeling also says that instagram should be a charm for local politicians. Finally, I think that instagram is surprisingly untouched by politicians, spindocters and political communications agencies. I think the reason for this is that instagram came at a time where the pro-s just had already invested a lot of time becoming good at facebook, twitter and whatnot. Investing time in a new social-media which doesn't have the look and feel of a political tool and doesn't provide clear advantages has turned-off many campaigners. In other words you can still be very unique on instagram -trying to sell political ideas to people looking for pictures of Kim and Kanye.

Please comment if you agree or disagree or have any experiences to share.

Milos Labovic is the author of EU Superlobby - Winning in Brussels

Follow him on instagram for no appaearent reason