Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who has so far been rather hapless on social media, is looking for support for his hard line against FPÖ boss and election winner Herbert Kickl. So on October 15th, an email was sent out to all members and apparently also the members of the associations, in which they embarrassingly solicited likes for a Facebook posting. It didn’t help much; in total, almost 1,500 likes were begged for instead of the usual 100. A disgrace for a chancellor and a chancellor’s party. It’s high time for the ÖVP to finally pull the emergency brake here.
A comment from Willi Huber
Advertising industry insiders have long suspected that Karl Nehammer’s social media team is either financed by his political opponent or consists of supporters of Sebastian Kurz, who is hoping for a comeback. Because in Nehammer’s sense, work is certainly not being done there – at least not with a strategy that promises success. Whenever and wherever Nehammer expresses himself on social media, the negative voices often seem to predominate or make up a very large proportion. Consent is rare.
Where SPÖ Taxi Chancellor Faymann once had to buy fake friends, the ÖVP is trying to take other paths that are no less embarrassing. Because if Nehammer were popular and had any relevant approval, he wouldn’t have to beg for “Facebook likes”.
The email to the ÖVP members is available to Report24 and can be shown in anonymized form. The fact that the members are addressed by their first names (in the unrecognizable area) also seems very strange – so a professional polite form and “per Sie” form of address is no longer fashionable in the ÖVP.
The Facebook posting to which Nehammer refers in this letter and where he asks for likes from members, can be found linked here.
Most of the comments are – as usual – negative. You have to dig hard for positive comments. Technical details indicate that 300 additional comments have already been deleted. While the overview currently shows 578 comments, the “show all comments” function only displays 252 comments.
Other Facebook Reels are less “successful”. For example, his reel after visiting Alexander Van der Bellen with 573 likes, his reel about humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip with 192 likes or his reel on election day with 355 likes. The results on X (formerly Twitter) are even more disastrous. Of the 87,539 followers, there are rarely more than 200 who “like” Nehammer’s statements. The most successful postings there are in English, are probably shared internationally and thus receive a lot of attention. It is often the case that comments from critics receive more approval from the X community than Nehammer or the ÖVP itself.
It goes without saying that this presents a devastating image to the public. And this is probably how the begging letter is to be understood, with which they are now trying to give the impression that the Austrian population is enthusiastic about Nehammer’s plans. Nehammer has around 63,000 followers on Facebook – with less promoted postings, a few hundred of them leave an “emoticon”. It is noticeable that hundreds of them always choose the “laugh” or the “angry” emoticon, i.e. they do not signal approval. Anyone who receives a lot of angry smilies will have their visibility restricted and demoted by Facebook. Here too, the social media department would be asked to take urgent countermeasures. (An example: Nehammer at Van der Bellen has around 400 “thumbs up”, 130 “anger” and 40 “laugh” emoticons.
Back to the “Reel” advertised via begging letters. Some Facebook users have left very interesting comments here. Some examples:
The survey is interesting: 63% do not want Mr. Nehammer as chancellor, 66% want Kickl.
I’m a hotel manager, I work a lot, I pay into the system. When I hear the ÖVP talk, I get scared. You have no idea of the worries and needs of the entrepreneurs – let alone the employees. You are aiming for a government with the Babler-SPÖ: i.e. higher taxes for entrepreneurs. Logical – we’re all rich, millionaires… irony! By the way, the ÖVP has zero heart for animals. Factory farming and animal transport across Europe to so-called third countries are also “normal” for you! I could never, really never give you my vote. And the government in Tyrol (ÖVP/SPÖ): Over-driver policy regarding the Fernpass package!
Mr Karl Nehammer,
finally stop with your false arguments!You, Mr. Karl Nehammer, are the agitator, divisive and marginalizer with your rhetoric and not, as you and your lackeys like to propagate, Mr. Kickl!
They clearly cannot accept that they are separated from intellect and empathy with a person like that Herbert Kickl can’t compare in any way, because you’ve shown several times that you can’t hold a candle to him in any way!
You and your party colleagues are probably forgetting or keeping quiet about what you said during the Corona crisis and what you caused through your unspeakable policies and measures, which many of us will feel personally and economically for a long time.
Of course, this certainly doesn’t affect your aloofness in any way.
You are unacceptable in the office of Federal Chancellor or any other function in a federal government!
If you had even an ounce of decency, you would have resigned yourself long ago!
You are still clinging to your pseudo power, but hopefully the time of reckoning by the Austrian justice system will follow for you too!
We haven’t been able to talk about justice for a long time, because as the BK of this incompetent federal government, you were primarily responsible for it, which divided the population and repeatedly prescribed measures to the detriment of the population.
You have “impressively” proven several times that you cannot do it, as the current budget deficit infamously shows.
You are an absolute disgrace for Austria and I would say this to your face personally because your aloofness and falsehood are simply unbearable.
So that was it once, and now I’m just going to buy a “healthy” burger at Mäci, because I can’t afford more anyway thanks to your politics!
