Social Media’s Role in Polarising Politics and Political Instability

I stay active on social media for my work, but in all honesty, some days, it really gets me down.

Sure, there are some feel good stories popping up every now and then, but the number of people making pernicious comments seems to be growing, and scrolling through social media honestly deflates me.

#Auspol

It’s my favourite hashtag to punch into a social media search bar because I love politics. Recently, I haven’t been able to scroll more than 20 tweets before I’ve begun to wonder if I will ever make an impact in my work in sustainability when very little seems to be good enough for these people.

Politicians, at times, make mistakes. This does not mean they are fundamentally bad people. Over my career, I have met with countless politicians in Australian federal, state, territory and local government. Not once have I left a meeting thinking that anyone was a ‘bad person’. Of course, there were people with whom I had differences of opinion; there were people who I felt didn’t quite hear everything I had to say based on the fact my views were different to theirs. However, every single politician has treated me with respect and has showed genuine interest in developing our nation. It’s just that some politicians believe developing our nation should be done…