In or out? Iâm #Votin

Tomorrow, many of us in the UK will be voting on the question, ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?’

Therefore, it seems only appropriate to draw attention to some of the social media campaigns that we have seen being used for the EU Referendum. From early on, it seemed the decision over whether the UK remains inside the EU could depend on whether young people vote in sufficient numbers as just 43% of under 25-year-olds voted in the general election in 2015. The solution? The campaign: #Votin.

#Votin (which was started by In Campaign) is a series of posters and flyers aimed at the social media generation and hoped to encourage the younger voters through its’ use of cheesy, play on words; chillin, meetin, tourin, votin.

Unfortunately, the campaigns efforts to engage younger voters came across as both patronising and offensive. By reverting to slang, it suggests the younger generation are ‘not capable of constructing objective, pro-EU arguments, and are not bothered or clever enough to get it’.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise to learn of the backlash that the campaign received on Twitter, from the very audience it was trying to target. It also begs the question, are current campaigns patronising young people?

So, if you’re young and you enjoy workin, earnin or makin, make sure you vote tomorrow.

This campaign was discussed at the DMA Social Media Council in June 2016.

https://dma.org.uk/communities/social-media-council