Why You 'Unfollowed' Him on His SNS

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] “Honestly, I think the reason my father’s recognition is low is because he is not good-looking.”

This is a post written by Park Gwang-on, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, when he was a candidate for the New Politics Alliance for Democracy. His daughter used this account to upload real-time posts showing her father’s human and approachable side, communicating with netizens. It gained popularity as “online filial piety,” and after Park was elected, he eventually rose to become the Secretary-General of the Democratic Party.

In the early days, politicians’ SNS served as a tool to make their initially hard-to-approach images more familiar. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun used the character “Segunman” to create a friendly image on Instagram, and he often posted humorous writings on his blog, becoming well-known. In fact, reflecting netizens’ criticism asking “Why use the Japanese character Segunman?”, Prime Minister Chung placed the character “Loopy” from Pororo next to the Segunman doll. This quick feedback was highly praised in the SNS world.

Media scholars also positively evaluated politicians’ use of SNS at the time. They expected it to create so-called “two-way communication,” where both information providers and receivers actively interact through comments and live broadcasts. Furthermore, they believed it would encourage citizens’ political participation. Difficult policies could be promoted in an easy-to-understand way, and citizens’ reactions could be immediately reflected. It was also anticipated to create an open and healthy public sphere for both politicians and citizens.

However, the ongoing disputes on politicians’ SNS now show that their function has completely changed. Currently, politicians’ SNS aim for one-way communication rather than two-way. SNS has degenerated into a tool for achieving individual politicians’ political goals, such as criticizing the opposing party or its members. The recent controversy over People Power Party lawmaker Jo Su-jin’s “concubine remark” is not unrelated to this.

On the 7th, as typhoon-strength rain and wind swept across the country, the raindrops hanging on the National Assembly building reflected an upside-down image. The ruling and opposition parties, with the Liberty Korea Party demanding the withdrawal of the 'fast-track' process and continuing their boycott of the National Assembly for two months, are facing the question of whether they can find a solution. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Attacks occur regardless of party lines. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Kyung-hyup caused controversy by saying to People Power Party floor leader Joo Ho-young, “I’m sending you an industrial sewing machine as a gift so that your abusive language won’t pollute the ears of the people.” Former lawmaker Min Kyung-wook, who was embroiled in controversy over his “abusive Facebook,” posted a 3,000-character rant targeting former presidents and current ministers starting with “XXX bastards,” and eventually apologized.

With one-way communication, only politicians and supporters who agree with the messages remain on SNS. The political bias of politicians has become more entrenched through comments from supporters only. A National Assembly aide lamented, “Our lawmaker personally deletes malicious comments on his Facebook,” adding, “Since it’s his account, there’s nothing we can do to stop it.” Meanwhile, the media reproduced low-quality messages by simply reporting on controversial posts.

Professor Choi Ji-hyang of Ewha Womans University’s Department of Communication and Media said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 31st, “If citizens are continuously exposed to SNS messages showing politicians’ conflicts, they inevitably lose trust in politicians and political cynicism grows,” expressing concern that “Ultimately, the overall level of politics may decline.”

Although SNS started as two-way communication, citizens exhausted by conflict messages have ended up “unfollowing” them. There is concern not only about unfollowing politicians but also about unfollowing politics in general. Ultimately, the positive function of politicians’ SNS can be realized when diversity is accepted and open two-way communication occurs. There is also a continuous need to reflect on the weight of politicians’ words.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.