社群媒體與選舉：以2014年臺北市長選舉為例

Abstract

「改變臺灣，從首都開始；改變臺北，從文化開始」，這是柯文哲競選2014年臺北市長時打出的口號。以無黨籍參選臺北市長的柯文哲，其競選策略即為淡化藍綠對決色彩，傾力吸引中間選民支持。 柯文哲團隊最大的策略工具，是社群媒體運用得當，包括在公民參與、動員模式和危機處理層面，都掌握到社群媒體即時、較傳統媒體成本低廉，和具有使用者編輯功能等特性。更重要的是，社群媒體在國內外選舉歷史上，都證明具有「顛覆舊有執政權」的能力，因為志願者可透過不同網絡的資源串流，藉以組織更強大的網絡。誠如2008年歐巴馬於美國總統選舉中，成功掌握「網絡選戰」規則，在互聯網時代，架構了一個抵抗政權的範例（Castells, 2013：364）。 檢視柯文哲團隊的組織脈絡，即是以號召「萬人送仲丘」的1985行動聯盟，以及黑島青年發起的「318學運」為能量，引發首都執政的政黨輪替。除了意味新科技讓臺灣的社會運動升級，其社運「網絡」也因為社群媒體的特性，得以重新編輯、凝聚為更彈性的「組織」來參與公共事務；這股新興的草根力量將結合社群媒體浪潮，在2014年底九合一選舉中，實踐「庶民」也能靠自身力量「推翻執政、改變政治」的期待；然而對青年來說，要落實此遠景，「參與選舉」事務即是和平革命的開端。 本篇論文就傳播學者Castells的「網絡社會」（network society）為理論架構，以「大眾自我傳播理論」探究社群、傳播媒介和權力之間的關連性。包括以草根力量為出發點的勞工階層、相對弱勢的社會運動者等，透過參與公共事務的方式表達意見，進而組織不同規模的網絡。本文研究發現：2014年民心思變，柯文哲團隊在此社會氛圍下，運用社群媒體工具讓庶民透過社群媒體參與選舉、反抗既有政治權力的統治，其團隊「公開透明」的政治文化獲得認同，進而贏得選舉。

'Changing Taiwan, starting from the capital; changing Taipei, starting from its culture', is the slogan of Wen-Je Ko’s election in the 2014 mayoral election. Wen-Je Ko’s campaign strategy is to downplay the Ideology of political party in the hope of attracting the swing voters’ support. The main tool of Ko’s team used during his campaign is the social media, including the civil participation, mobilization model and crisis management. All of these strategies have taken advantage of the main characteristics of social media; which are; real-time, relatively cheaper than traditional media, and capable of user editing function. Most importantly, the social media in the domestic and international elections have proven effective to 'subvert the regime power,' because volunteers can gather through different social networks to organize a stronger network than traditional methods. For instance, in the 2008 presidential election in the United States, Barack Obama successfully mastered the 'network election' rule, and thus won the campaign in the Internet Era, which is a perfect example of resistance to the regime (Castells, 2013: 364). Looking closer to the organization of Ko’s campaign team, it was mostly consisted of the ' Citizen 1985 Action Alliance,' which was behind a tens of thousands of people rally in to protest over the death of a young conscript who died following alleged abuse in Aug. 2013. Other campaign members also included 'The Black Island Nation Youth Front' that launched the “Sunflower Movement.' In sum, it was the combine of these social power that had ultimately led to the party rotation in Taipei. This means that technology had upgraded the Taiwan's social movement, and the social network can be re-edited and condensed into a more flexible organization to participate in public affairs simply because of the characteristics of social media. This new grassroots power will be combined with the rise of new media. At the end of 2014, the practice of 'common people' can also rely on their own strength to 'change.' For most young people, 'participation in the election affairs' is the beginning of a peaceful revolution to achieve this vision. This paper explores the relevance of the community, the media, and the power of the communication society, based on Castells' 'network society' and the 'mass self-communication theory' as the theoretical framework. A number of grassroots powers such as the blue-collar workers, and the relatively disadvantaged social activists, have been organizing different sizes of the networks to participating public affairs in order to express their views. This paper has found that the social atmosphere in 2014 is 'changing', and the Ko’s team had taken advantage of new media tools to promote the citizen participate in the mayoral election through the social media, as a revolt to the rule of traditional political power. Ko’s team advocates the idea of 'open and transparent' to seek voters’ recognition and trust thus ultimately won the mayoral election.