German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took his beating and the eyepatch he received for humor and tweeted about it. According to the researcher, the Chancellor’s openness was good public management.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz has been considered a gray and dry political leader. Humor is not usually associated with his most central qualities.
At the weekend, the Chancellor tripped while jogging and bruised his face. Now he has to wear an eye patch for a few weeks.
Chancellor Scholz didn’t wait for the social media rumor mill to spin, but tweeted with a picture. A black eyepatch covered the right eye and underneath was the text: “I’m excitedly waiting for memes!”
– Scholz took control of the situation before anyone else could. When you laugh at yourself first, others don’t get to laugh and make you an object of ridicule, research doctor Saara Särmä says.
In her research, Saara Särmä specializes in, among other things, social media and memes.
According to Saara Särmä, it is typical of the time that one wants to keep the public image in one’s own hands, and not let others define it.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s meme waiting was rewarded. As you might have guessed, he was directly equated with pirate captains. The memes also made fun of the scarred and blindfolded faces of the Specter leaders familiar from the James Bond movies.
Quick response to everything
According to Saara Särmä, Olaf Scholz showed good public management.
– If you show a good sense of self-irony, then such types are liked more than dry politicians.
Olaf Scholz’s case is also a typical example of how social media has made all communication very fast. You have to react soon to keep things under your control.
– It’s quite unpredictable what can come through social media.
According to research doctor Saara Särmä, it is essential that Olaf Scholz was able to define the story that is told about the event himself. He was able to cut off the wings of rumors even before they took off.
– Otherwise, it would have been possible to speculate that he has been subjected to violence.
Could Joe Biden take a proper joke?
Olaf Scholz finally played on a harmless playing field. The chancellor, who is in good shape, tripped while jogging and the damage is clearly superficial. A light joke will do. It doesn’t easily lend itself to many interpretations.
A completely different situation is, for example, the president of the United States, who is clearly fragile Joe Biden under. He can’t use his fragility in a humorous way, according to Scholz’s model?
PhD researcher Saara Särmä says that cultural contexts must also be taken into account here, i.e. how different things are received everywhere.
– Of course, it’s a different thing to fall while jogging, than to joke about the fragility that comes with old age. Then you can expose yourself to ridicule related to the matter in different ways.