Abstract
Political advertising is a form of campaigning that allows candidates to directly convey their message to voters and influence the political debate. South African political parties (African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance) also adopted the use of social media networks as an effective tool for political campaigning purposes and to encourage the public to engage in political discourse. The chapter investigates how both the South African public and the political parties are using YouTube for discussion, debate, and opinion formation during the 2019 South Africa elections. Sociological analysis method is used in the research. The subject is especially about Aristotle's concept of rhetoric, promises of political messages, and political persuasion in written form. The findings part of the study shows that the most prevailant issues in the election campaigns were corruption, failure to keep promises, and the effort to create a new leader identity in the DA party. By ANC, independence, Mandela's contributions and past actions, and the importance of voting were mentioned.
TopIntroduction
Political parties or candidates who want to have the vote and support of the voters try to persuade and influence them. The parties or candidates manage this through conveying their services, projects and political ideas to the voters by using the media (newspaper, television, internet, etc.) or outdoor advertising spaces. “Persuasion” (Jamieson, 1996, p. 4), which necessitates the imagination of a spectrum ranging from “influence” at the moderate end to “force” at the other end, plays an active role in ensuring the acquisition and maintenance of political power. Again, persuasion is always taken into account in the message design phase of all political communication activities.
The development of democracy, the prominence of elections, the appreciation of legitimacy and similar developments have increased the importance of persuasion in the political communication process. Political communication is now seen as the use of methods such as public relations, advertising, social media (YouTube & Instagram) and propaganda, which enable the candidates to gain the support and trust of individuals (Damlapınar & Balcı, 2014, p. 33; Güven, 2020, pp. 44-45). Political advertising can mobilize a person to participate in an election and persuade a person to vote for a particular candidate. The ultimate goal of political campaigns is to influence the election (Gordon et al., 2012, pp. 391-403). Bailenson et al. compares the relative effects of partisan, issue, gender, physical and facial similarity, as well as candidate familiarity, on voters' assessments of candidates (Bailenson et al., 2008, pp. 935-961). He states that he is inclined to choose candidates whose physical characteristics, face and demeanor are closer to him. Despite all the professionalization in the production of political messages and the increase in the possibility of presenting messages through different media, it should be kept in mind that politics is always carried out through political speeches. From the past to the present, rhetoric has managed to preserve its existence firmly (Reisigl, 2008, pp. 96-97).
Youtube campaigns are important platforms to persuade voters through facial expressions and speaking manners, making candidates physically visible. Political Youtube videos contain both verbal and visual elements. Adding audio elements such as music and sound to this, increases the impressiveness and persuasiveness function of the advertisement. With the spread of the internet by removing the limitations on space along with smart mobile phones, individuals are in an open position to messages at any time and from anywhere. According to Uztuğ (2004, p.17), the possibility of repeating and broadcasting political advertising messages in many channels ensures the retention of the message. You can not only reach the voters who are interested in politics and support the political party/candidate, but also the voters who are not interested in politics or the opposing side voters. A political candidate can correct his/her negative impressions, if any, through the opportunity to express himself/herself by participating in the party program, which includes his/her future goals, past practices, tone of voice, gestures, body knowledge and clothing selection, and through answering the criticisms and questions directed to him/her using Youtube videos. In this context, political advertisements on Youtube not only contribute to the formation of a positive image, but also provide the political information and political motivation that the voters need.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Sociological Analysis: The sociological analysis method used in researching sociological issues was proposed by Arthur Asa Berger in examining media contents. There are 16 independent titles in this analysis method.
Political Advertisements: It is a type of advertisement used by policy makers to persuade the electorate, especially during election periods. Here, the ossified, indecisive and opposing voters are tried to be persuaded in favor of the party and the leader with political promises and discourses.
2019 General Elections of the Republic of South Africa: Fourteen parties participated in the election held on 08.05.2019 in South Africa. In the election, ANC became the first party and DA became the second party. As a result of the election, the ANC decreased the number of seats in the parliament compared to the previous elections, while the DA increased the number of seats.
Democratic Alliance: The party that changed names many times was renamed the Democratic Alliance in 2000. Continuing its political life along the liberal line, the party entered the election with Mmusi Maimani in the 2019 election, but at the end of the following year, Jhon Steenhouisen became the head of the party.
Aristotle's Rhetoric: Aristotle stated that three important elements are dominant in persuading the masses. These are the ethos that reveals the credibility of the source, the pathos that activates the emotions of the audience, and the logos that reveals the logical propositions.
Coloured: Coloured, formerly Cape Coloured, a person of mixed European (“white”) and African (“black”) or Asian ancestry, as officially defined by the South African government from 1950 to 1991.
YouTube: The US-based company was founded in 2005. Youtube is currently broadcasting in hundreds of countries. One of these countries is the Republic of South Africa. The general logic of this social media platform is to create and share video content.
African National Congress: The ANC party was founded in 1912, but faced prohibitions in many periods of its political life. After the bans, Mandela became the head of the party and he also became a national symbol of the country.