Item

HIST30060: Daniel Andrews' Facebook Post

Title (Dublin Core)

HIST30060: Daniel Andrews' Facebook Post

Disclaimer (Dublin Core)

DISCLAIMER: This item may have been submitted in response to a school assignment prompt. See Linked Data.

Description (Dublin Core)

This is a screenshot of a Facebook post made by Daniel Andrews’ public page on 4th April 2020.

This post exemplifies the Victorian Premier’s ability to co-opt social media trends in promoting his own political agenda. Popular in early 2020, the meme followed the template of “Good morning to everyone except,” followed by exclusion of a relatively a niche social group. This screenshot illustrates the subtle use of social media as propaganda by the Andrews government. Andrews’ social media pages are seldom thought of as such, as the skill of his social media team has allowed him to maintain a popular and likeable social media persona. In an age of ubiquitous social media use, the Andrews government has used social media very effectively to protect its legitimacy and justify its methods. For example, the screenshot highlights the use of guilt by the Andrews government to legitimise health restrictions. The government consistently stressed that the pandemic restrictions were for the benefit of the public and necessitated complete compliance. Those who rejected health advice were endangering the entire community and “putting everyone at risk.” This post therein encapsulates sophisticated government propaganda and the co-opting of social media for political purposes.

I selected this post as someone influenced by the sophisticated campaign of government messaging. It lead me to resent rule-breakers and see the prolonged restrictions as a legitimate use of government authority to protect the public. As someone who entered the pandemic as a supporter of the Labor Party and Daniel Andrews personally, I no longer think the severity and length of the lockdowns were necessary. Yet, his social media presence certainly made him likeable, funny, and relatable at the time.

Date (Dublin Core)

April 4, 2020

Creator (Dublin Core)

Daniel Andrew

Contributor (Dublin Core)

Self

Event Identifier (Dublin Core)

HIST30060

Partner (Dublin Core)

University of Melbourne

Type (Dublin Core)

Screenshot

Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)

English Social Media (including Memes)
English Government Federal
English Politics

Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)

Facebook
social media
meme
screenshot
humor
Australia
propaganda
restrictions

Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)

Social media
Victoria
Australia
Daniel Andrews
Memes
Facebook
Screenshot
Propoganda
Government messaging
Lockdown

Linked Data (Dublin Core)

HIST 30060 University of Melbourne Syllabus

Date Submitted (Dublin Core)

10/26/2022

Date Modified (Dublin Core)

10/29/2022
11/01/2022
11/02/2022

Date Created (Dublin Core)

04/04/2020

Item sets

Covid 19

This item was submitted on October 26, 2022 by [anonymous user] using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://www.covid-19archive.org/s/archive

Click here to view the collected data.

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