TECHNOLOGY SPECTATOR: Fallout from the PM's Hangout

The Google Hangout with the prime minister was all about using social media to tear away the barriers between the public and Julia Gillard. But sadly, the initiative didn't quite deliver on its immense potential.

By Harrison Polites ·
23 Jul 2012

Technology Spectator

The idea was simple enough. Put the prime minister in front of a camera, stream the broadcast online and let the Australian community pose questions to her. Democracy at its finest... right?

Theoretically, yes. Giving regular Australians easy access to their elected leader should be what a democracy is all about. But somewhere in the pursuit of this noble idea, something went wrong. Questions were vetted, answers were spun, and by the end of the hour long Google Hangout session, the Prime Minister had done little to change her fleeting public image.

YouTube viewers voted with their clicks. By the end of the broadcast - which only had four likes before its 11am start - viewers reviewed the video 458 dislikes to 219 likes.

As one YouTube commenter put it straight after the broadcast's completion: "it was with good intentions but it didn't work".

So what happened? Here's all the fallout from the hangout.

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