Patxi Lopez is a politician, General-Secretary of the PSE, and the current Lehendakari (president) of the Basque Country. Though he belongs to a party with a national scope as it is PSOE, I am going to, basically, be focused on the way Patxi Lopez draws upon Web 2.0 technologies to promote his public profile as it is an important part of the job of an updated politician nowadays. I will only discuss about the image that Patxi Lopez wishes to project of himself and how he deals with all the tools that the network delivers to him.
We can find the Lehendakari on Facebook, Twitter, Last fm, You tube and of course he has his own Blog. The latter appears to be the knot that ties or gathers all his virtual spaces and tools throughout the network forming one fixed space where all appear to be coherent and crystal clear. Hence it is his main platform for promoting his public profile and the most well elaborated because it combines every multimedia resource at once:
- Video and audio (by setting external links You tube )
- Audio only (by setting external links to Last fm)
- Pictures and photos (by setting external links to Twitter and Facebook)
- Written text (by publishing posts and articles directly from his Blog.)
Using a Blog provides the Lendakari with the opportunity of being in touch, closely, with the public opinion because 2.0 technologies allow comments on the publications and interaction among senders and receivers. With his blog, Patxi Lopez is able to express himself continously and to negociate some meanings, which is a great chance for a politician because he needs to have a permanent opened channel with people so that he is able to know the real state of affairs. Furthermore, his Blog shows a forthcoming attitude of him towards modern times and real concerns.
The main difference that one can find between a company’s Web Communication Plan and the one of a politician is that the politician has to promote or project normality, reliability, equality and segurity. On the other hand, companies seek to promote the striking features of their products by projecting and claiming exclusivity and status.
Finally, I find it very significant that when Patxi Lopez was asked about how he started blogging, he answered that he had taken up to it as a hobby but it became an obligation as he was being every day assessed not as a politician but as a blogger.
REFERENCES:
- Colaboradores de Wikipedia. Patxi López [en línea]. Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre, 2010 [fecha de consulta: 7 de diciembre del 2010]. Disponible en <http://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patxi_L%C3%B3pez&oldid=42354248>.
- Que es la Web 2.0. By Javier Dosende. Microsoft Corporation.(9, December, 2010) Retrieved from Website: http://www.microsoft.com/business/smb/es-es/internet/web_2.mspx
Filed under: Web Communication 
