Modern politics has turned into an altogether different beast than what it was 10, 20, 30 and more years ago - and a lot of that can be put down to the advent and wide spread use of social media.

We hear a lot about algorithms in social media, but it's clear that the algorithm for what makes up the modern day politician has been affected by the algorithms of social media.

Social media has made us more conscious of our image. Every post, story, and picture is filtered, polished, refined so that what is presented on social media is what gets the most likes and the most attention.

We now see an array of different attempts at projecting this refined image of a politician.  Be it a neat family photo, to emphasise the politician's ascription towards 'family values', or shots of the said politician milling around a local village feast, to emphasise the politician's closeness to the local community: things have become more a matter of image than substance.

Other popular examples include, but are not limited to, candid shots of politicians walking the streets of a locality while on house visits; carefully posed set up shots of a politician looking serious while on a phone call; and various good morning missives to the politician's loyal followers.

Politicians have also taken to gravitating to the influencer-side of the media sphere - being more than happy to appear on more tabloid-y media houses or with self-described influencers on podcasts - where they know that they will get an easy ride and a good, strong reaction off of social media.

It's easy to get carried away with social media.  As the hundreds and hundreds of likes and reactions pile up from loyal followers, of course it's natural to want to pander to that more.  Yet does this new found approach of creating a near-enough artificiality to project to social media also play a part in the reason as to why interest in politics seems to be dwindling, and apathy among voters increasing?

People want genuine politicians - people who are ready to work for the country's cause.  This isn't to say that those politicians who frequently use social media are not such - but, one can certainly say that there is a chunk of the population which isn't particularly impressed with what is projected onto social media.

People want their politicians to speak out, to share their views - their praises, their condemnations, their reasoned opinions.  Ultimately it's on those bases that they should be elected, not on how many village feast visits they can cram in on a given summer weekend.

The world is in a state which is far from being sunshine and roses: wars are raging, climate change is on steroids, the basic cost of living is on the up and is continuing to bite, disinformation is at an all-time high, and our environment is under assault.

The politics of likes and follows is not the solution to the problems that we are facing. People want politics with substance, politics with principles, and politicians who are responsible enough to be held to account.