From images of HIV-infected bananas and cringeworthy Love Actually inspired videos, to legislators speaking about a woman’s place in the kitchen, social media is increasingly becoming an awkward arena for Maltese politicians.

Social media posts over the past months have regaled us with a self-complimenting former prime minister, and an opposition leader awkwardly dancing in a TikTok video with a group of young activists.

In 2017, whoever was managing Joseph Muscat's official Facebook profile forgot to switch users.

The feedback to such posts is usually a mix of disbelief coupled with an army of so-called prosit ministru followers who would applaud anything their politician says or does.

Just last week, the environment minister got himself into hot water and was forced to apologise for dropping a 'yo mama' joke and threatening to sue for libel.

While Aaron Farrugia uncharacteristically traded insults with the author of satirical website Bis-Serjetà and the chairperson of the book council on Twitter, fellow Economy Minister Silvio Schembri posed for a photo in a crisp white shirt hovering over a kitchen chopping board with raw chicken and vegetable that many deemed as “cross-contaminated”.

“The wife got me working overtime today... the kitchen is in my hands. Good night, friends,” he captioned the photo.

Alex Agius Saliba in the kitchen.

His comment, deemed as sexist by many, is reminiscent of a similar tone-deaf post by Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba who in December told his Facebook followers he was “helping” his wife in the kitchen.

Only a handful of politicians appear to master the benefits of social media while avoiding its many pitfalls. Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola is known for engaging in all kinds of debates using just the right tone of sarcasm and humour.

Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo’s morning musings on Facebook have also been consistent in delivering a subtle political message laced with anecdotes about his love for nature, although he has often been criticised for being too vague.

The question remains, is it better for politicians to use social media badly, than not use it at all?

According to experts, the simple answer is that politicians should keep away from social media until they have learnt to use it properly.

Roberta Metsola is among the very few who are winning at this game.

‘Politicians are not in control’

Alex Grech has seen very few examples of politicians in Malta using social media properly.

Unless politicians want to continue entertaining followers with regular bouts of tragicomedy and variants of megalomaniac egos, they need to get some basic digital literacy, said Grech, who lectures digital media literacy and internet culture at the University of Malta.

One of the first things they need to learn is that if they use social media for political broadcasts, people will bite back. This is something they are not used to in real life, and in fact, a lot of politicians consider social media to be their soapbox and use it as a one-way medium.

“Their social media campaigns are either run by youths who think they are social media experts because they understand the basics of search engine optimisation, or else by feeding money into adverts broadcast on Facebook and YouTube.

“Politicians think they are in control, but they are not. The only entity which is in control is the platform that monetises the data that is fed into it. That data is then sold to whoever wants to launch a pay-per-click campaign… and at the end of the day, that person might also be a politician.”

Bernard Grech on TikTok.

‘Insight into politicians’ poor understanding of key issues’

Media and gender studies lecturer Brenda Murphy believes politicians should especially lead by example.

Like any other media platform, social media has the potential to prompt positive or negative change: like pushing democracy forward during the Arab Spring or backwards when Donald Trump used it to instigate hatred and violence, she said.

But while the electorate has every right to demand the highest standards from those who aspire to present themselves as leaders – including on social media – online gaffes could also help shape voters’ decisions.

“We recently saw a series of poorly-considered clumsy, childish, ill-informed, ill-conceived exchanges on social media involving politicians. Such online posts are, for the thinking public, excellent insights into politicians’ poor understanding of key issues such as gender equality, online harassment, and self-promotion. 

“These social media moments are a political gift for the opposition, but more importantly give the public a sharp insight into the minds of, and values of, those politicians.”

Scroll right to see more photos. 

Edwin Vassallo shared a post about HIV-infected bananas in February of 2019.

Ian Borg's 2020 post about him enjoying Maltese bread in a field, surrounded with trees, has become a meme.

Last year Owen Bonnici shared a video, seemingly inspired by the Christmas movie Love Actually, of himself standing outside his parents' house during the pandemic.

Another Roberta Metsola post.