Weapon of choice

Is Facebook the new Prime Minister’s weapon of choice? It seemed an odd choice of platform to use when he announced his latest wheeze, an unofficial Prime Minister’s question time, apparently online. The headlined idea was to allow real people to ask questions of him which he could then answer.

Of course, I imagine the whole thing was stage managed. Politics is too important to leave to chance. Of course I am not suggesting that there were fake questions from fake people but we really have no way of knowing.  Are real people only found on Facebook these days?

Who knows what the difference between real and fabricated is anymore?

The approach reminded me of Corbyn’s first few times when he faced May across the floor of the house at Prime Minister’s Questions. His use of questions from the public was an attempt to make the parliamentary process seem more relevant to the person in the street. The approach didn’t last that long.

I say it reminded me but I think Johnson’s use of Facebook is much more calculated and insidious. It gives the impression of being modern and open yet much of the electorate is not on the platform, I, for one, avoid it. 

Why aren’t other social media platforms used where interaction is also possible? The answer of course is that Johnson’s assistant, Cummings has form. Facebook was used extensively to target leave voters in the referendum in 2016, with pinpoint accuracy. User profiling allowed for tailored messages to be targeted at individuals. 

Enough has been said about this elsewhere but the reason Facebook is being used is to harvest information. Anyone who joined in will be profiled, tested and targeted. As long as Cummings is in the wings, then Facebook will be Johnson’s weapon of choice. Be careful in case you get sucked in.

Of course, I have no way of proving any of this.