Figures released yesterday by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) reveal that 25 per cent of young voters failed to register for the upcoming federal election. Now the government agency says it is worried by what it calls a continuing trend of young voters not enrolling.
But, frankly, as a fellow gen-Yer I'm not terribly surprised - and here's why.
The fact that our politicians are unplugged and unengaged with today's youth doesn't help. While the uptake of social media by political parties and candidates looks promising, it's kind of like having your parents 'friend' you on Facebook. It's embarrassing for everyone.
Too many policies important to young voters aren't afforded the same airtime as other issues. My peers place a huge emphasis on issues such as the national broadband network, higher education and gay marriage. So do I. Those who are well-engaged online have strong opinions about asylum seekers and business taxation, but their views don't seem to be getting the attention that they deserve.
Attention, quite frankly, which could make all the difference in seats held on a razor-thin margin.
But it's not entirely our politicians' fault. The AEC also murdered social media with cringe-worthy claims like, "our Facebook page is going gangbusters." It's precisely what my 'hip' grandmother would say after successfully posting a picture of her cat to my auntie's wall.
It seems to me that there wasn't much effort put in. In the week between when the election was announced on August 4 and when registrations closed on August 12, only eight Facebook posts were made on the AEC's official page. Worse, it included a double-post of the then doubly disturbing "gangbusters" post.
Of these eight posts, 831 people shared these with their friends. Considering the average Facebook user has 190 friends, that's 157,890 impressions. That's not much in the grand scheme of things and these posts weren't anything to boast about in the first place.
Seven videos were posted on YouTube. Four were boring copies of television advertisements, one provided accessible voting information for the vision impaired, and the final two were vox-pops of Melbourne footy fans talking about using their phones to re-enrol. Thirty-three tweets or re-tweets went out during the same period, averaging around 20 to 40 re-tweets each. But there was little consistency between each of the different mediums.
Even more disheartening was the tone. Bar from a solitary (and lame) 'my precious' meme featuring Lord of The Rings' Gollum holding a ballot paper, none of these social media posts had a hint of humour. Just log on to the front page of reddit or YouTube, or take a look at the sort of things young Facebook users share on their wall. What's shared or posted the most? Stuff that is funny.
Rightly so. As comedian and conductor Victor Borge once pointed out, "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."
Marketers like those responsible for Melbourne Metro Trains' 'Dumb Ways To Die' safety campaign used humour perfectly - and possibly saved lives.
We're truly fortunate to live in a democracy. It's just a shame that our politicians and the AEC didn't connect with young people properly to ensure not only do they live in it, they also participate in it.
Tom Burns is a blogger, vlogger and self-confessed political junkie.
Email us on sbsnews@sbs.com.au or tweet us using the hashtag #punditSBS.
