Socmed’s reduced clout

Recent public perceptions of Filipino political heavyweights seem to indicate social media’s (socmed) reduced clout on our politics.

This interpretation seems plausible at least insofar as it concerns beleaguered Vice President Sara Duterte’s political fortunes of late.

Last week, Octa Research Group’s third quarter survey revealed Ms. Duterte suffered precipitous drops in her satisfaction and trust ratings.

Ms. Duterte obtained a satisfaction rating of 52 percent and a trust rating of 59 percent, down from her 60-percent satisfaction rating and 65-percent trust rating last July.

Ms. Duterte, who used to have the highest ratings among top officials, last week saw her ratings falling below those of President Marcos Jr., Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

While the Chief Executive’s ratings also fell — he had a 66-percent satisfaction score (down from 68 percent) and 69-percent trust score (from 71 percent) — he clearly fared better than Ms. Duterte.

Octa’s survey results, of course, came amid Ms. Duterte’s acrimonious falling out with her erstwhile partner and her ongoing nasty duel with the Quad Committee of the Lower House, particularly the so-called Young Guns — recent events that immediately impress that Ms. Duterte is fast losing her political battles with both the President and the House.

Ms. Duterte losing ground politically, in fact, is leading political observers to say that her father had no choice but to reinsert himself into the political landscape by appearing before the Senate, precisely to arrest his daughter’s sagging political fortunes.

Ms. Duterte’s predicament elicited a no comment from Mr. Marcos, even after her recent tirades against him. The House is also largely keeping quiet on whether or not they will pursue impeachment against her.

While these frequent political skirmishes and ambuscades, and the subsequent responses to them, certainly preoccupy us, the survey results also significantly raise a question on another unresolved social and political issue: the influence of social media on our polarized politics.

Undoubtedly social media is a potent force in our present times.

In fact, aside from reaping success with his perceived tough anti-crime persona, former President Rodrigo Duterte effectively proved social media can be weaponized to gain political power.

The former strongman could not have risen to political preeminence if not for the massive online support of legions of his fanatical faithful and admirers — where previously if you spent five minutes online you’re hectored that all worldly evils stem from illegal drugs.

Interestingly, however, in the case of Ms. Duterte, the vaunted Duterte social media machinery supporting her seems to be nowhere near her father’s.

If it were otherwise, Octa’s survey results would have shown steady support for the Vice President and would have even further cemented her standing despite the relentless assaults against her.

So, the general impression is that Ms. Duterte’s supposedly fanatical online supporters are not only failing to arrest the erosion in her public support but also to turn the controversial issues hurled against her to her favor.

It must also be noted here that in recent months scores of so-called pro-Duterte influencers were reportedly being eased out of Facebook, the social media platform of choice of pro-Duterte supporters. That may also have had an effect.

Nonetheless, this still doesn’t prevent us from being of the opinion that we can now probably discount social media’s pernicious influence on our politics.

In other words, it seems that nowadays Filipinos scrolling their lives away on Facebook, entranced and defiled by rants of strangers and well-paid trolls, isn’t a surefire way to influence their political opinions and judgments.

This opinion is maybe what theorist Slavoj Zizek likes to call a “stupid first impression.”

Everybody, however, has to have their stupid first impression. Otherwise you are not really doing anything.

But as you go through your stupid first impression, you start correcting and modifying this and that and get on to have a useful picture of our politics.