Facebook Town Hall is a great idea… but only for some countries

Facebook has just launched its long-awaited Facebook Town Hall in the United States, which allows users to locate and connect with their representatives in different institutions through their Facebook pages in order to share their concerns, propose petitions and register protests, etc.

The initiative makes a lot of sense in democracies where there is a direct link between people and their representatives, as opposed to those where representatives are simply elected by the leader of a party who then presents them to voters via closed lists. In countries like Spain, there is no real link between representatives and the represented: taxpayers vote for a party, not a person, and since representatives are chosen by the party leader, communicating directly with representatives makes very little sense. In fact, many Spanish deputies or senators protest when they receive too many e-mails from the electorate, arguing they cannot cope and have other things to be getting on with.

When representatives do bother to answer, it is a voluntary effort: in fact, e-mails sent to them may well not have come from their constituency and although the politician might improve his or her reputation or boost their popularity, their political future does not depend on their behavior or actions, but on the will or needs of their party.

In countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom, where tax payers choose their representatives directly, offering people a way to connect with them makes perfect sense. Representatives clearly perceive the importance of this connection and are forced to think about the consequences of doing things their voters may not like. Similarly, they have to pay attention to those voters: representatives who do not respond to the people they represent soon see their popularity ratings fall. In fact, a good part of a political representative’s staff is dedicated to finding ways to improve communication with voters.

The people who live in these types of democracies can be classified according to their level of political activity. Those who engage in informed political activity tend not only to vote in elections, but also choose a particular representative they believe will defend their interests adequately, and appreciate the possibility of being able to communicate with their representatives. But even people who do not vote or who particularly well-informed will still find Facebook Town Hall useful, because it will tell them who their representatives are and how to contact them, leaving open the possibility of influencing them or demanding explanations for their actions.

What are the factors in the relationship between representatives and representatives that prevents this supposed dialogue from descending to a shouting match? This depends to a large extent on the actions of the representative in question, in terms of whether they make sense, as well as if they are to explain.

At the end of the day, Facebook’s Town Hall is a reflection of its role as a channel people use to participate in a wide range of activities, as well as to inform themselves, putting it in a position to offer the public and their representatives to talk. The initiative has even been dubbed as “the best thing the company has ever done”. To me, living in a partitocracy like Spain, Facebook Town Hall does not make much sense, but it certainly makes me envious of other democracies.

(En español, aquí)