Work, work ,work

Last week I was asked to contribute a article to the weekly newsletter that the firm sends out to all of its customers and anyone else that signs up for it.  They wanted a "American" point of view on social media and political movents.

Here is the "Engish" version.  This was a first draft so it is not a direct translation of my final one in spanish.

The 2012 election cycle has been uneventful so far and there are no real controversial topics that the candidates are arguing over.  It should not be a surprise that during a uneventful election process that the new age of social media took over and a small limited movement began to rise and quickly became over inflated due to social media and the lack of real campaign issues in the 2012 election.  It seems the movement was just an attempt to cut into Enrique Peña Nieto’s continual double digit lead in the polls and the return of PRI’s dominance of Mexican politics.

At the beginning of the election cycle many international and especially United States news outlets were focused on the rise of a conservative female candidate, Josefina Vazquez Mota, wining her parties (PAN) nomination for President.  Much like the United States, Mexico has never had a female head of state.  With the rise of female candidates in the United States, there is a growing interest in the US regarding females running and winning many elections.  Many new sources were draw to this subject but it has since lost interest in the US possibly because many people feel that Peñas double digit lead in the polls will be impossible for her to overcome. 

The next news story to be covered in the US was the possible and seemingly inevitable return to power of the “old regime” PRI, which was in power until 2000 for 71 uninterrupted years.  Many people feared that this return would bring back the corruption of the past party. 

Today the US media is focusing on the youth movement “Yo Soy 132”.  Many newspapers in the US are comparing this movement to other social media movements in the past few years.  The “Arab Spring” was seen by many in the US as a justified movement that was going to insight true change.  The “Yo Soy 132” movement has little in common with the “Arab Spring” movement besides the power of social media. It was just last year that the US had its first social media political movement that was labeled “Occupy Wall Street” (OWS).  While the movement was able to use social media to spread across the US, it had a very small and unorganized following.  Members of the movement were not able to create a clear defined agenda.  Their agenda was a vague disapproval of corporations and Wall Street financial practices. The movement was overinflated by social media and the media in general, and has since disappeared.

With the quick rise of the student movement called “Yo Soy 132” we can see the new role social media is playing in politics within Mexico.  We should not underestimate the power social media can play in a political movement.  As we have seen in recent years social media has been used to bring down oppressive governments.  The power of social media was first seen during the Arab Spring.  Groups mostly led by students, organized protests and marches via Facebook and Twitter.  When the marches and protest were combated by their government with violence all was caught on video and posted to sites such as YouTube.  Soon the media began to give attention to the movement and the world could see what was happening in the Middle East and North Africa.   

The US coverage of Mexico’s first major social media movement has focused on the basic elements of the movement. The movement started after Presidential frontrunner, Enrique Peña Nieto, visited Iberoamrican University on May 11.  Peña’s visit was overshadowed by a vocal group of hecklers who were opposed to PRI regaining political power over Mexico again.  Some members of PRI suggested that the hecklers were partisan imposters.  This claim encouraged 131 students to make a video stating that they were indeed real students and had ID cards to prove it.  The movement soon exploded as many others claimed to be 132.  The students of the movement began to criticize the media’s coverage of politics in Mexico, alleging that Peña receives only favorable coverage from media outlets such as Televisa which accounts for 70% of Mexico’s free view audience.  The movement has stated that they support no particular candidate or party but they wish to change the political environment in Mexico.

While the movement has held a few successful marches and protests, we should remain cautious about overstating the movement as was done in the US with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.   Outside of the capital the movement is not able to garner much momentum.  The movement is also being led by students who have traditionally not voted in elections in high numbers.  The power of social media seems to over inflate the movements representation.  While many citizens across México may sympathize with the movement few are willing to be active in it or feel that they can make a change.  There is just not enough excitement surrounding the movement to attract people outside of students.  This is leading cause to why the movement will not produce the results seen during the Arab Spring and will fade away with time like the US “Occupy Wall Street” movement.  The youth that led the movements in the Arab Spring had a cause that all citizens could identify with and received the support of the entire country to end a dictatorship and address human rights issues.  The issues in Mexico, while important, are not nearly as serious as those in the Arab Spring.  This means that the changes the students want will take time and continued efforts long after the election on June 1st.  While the movement may have little to no effect on the elections it may be laying the ground work for future leaders to rise in politics and focus on true change.  It is possible that one of the Yo Soy 132 activists or poll watchers may one day be President.