Diederik Gommers the ICfluencer

The past months, Corona Outbreak Management Team member Diederik Gommers has used the hybrid media system to communicate his message of being an ordinary citizen, who is also an easy-to-relate-to expert in COVID-19 matters. By being both understanding and critical, he uses his expertise to guide citizens and politicians to the responsible path.

COVID-19 and expert politics

During the COVID-19 crisis, a lot has changed regarding the political landscape. Not only have there been new regulations that (drastically) change daily life ever so often, the opinions of medical experts have also become increasingly important. As the government decides on regulations that are supposed to help get rid of the virus, it is important that knowledge about healthcare and viruses is considered. Because of this, the government has created an Outbreak Management Team (OMT). The OMT is a team that advises on how a virus can be best combatted and considers the uncertainties of new regulations. One team member of the OMT is Diederik Gommers, chairman of the Dutch Association of Intensive Care (NVIC). 

Gommers has received quite some attention on the internet, starting with a visit to talk show Jinek with Famke Louise, who was part of the social movement #ikdoenietmeermee, a collective by Dutch media celebrities who were against the COVID regulations. After the talk, Famke Louise encouraged Gommers to create his own Instagram, which he has now created and is actively using.

In this article, I will connect the dual screening that occurred during the Jinek interview, Gommers’ Instagram posts, and the comments he received to Silverstein and Lempert's "political message": the way in which a political figure communicates their identity by selectively taking on issues in a certain manner (Lempert & Silverstein, 2012). I will explore how Diederik Gommers’ message is established and perceived in the hybrid media system. 

#ikdoenietmeermee and Jinek

On September 21, 2020, many Dutch celebrities shared a video to their Instagram of them saying: “Together alone we can get the government under control. I am no longer participating. Free the people.”

They all used the hashtag #ikdoenietmeermee, which translates to “I am no longer participating”. The movement was started by Willem Engel, founder of Viruswaarheid, which is a movement against the COVID measures. Singer Famke Louise also participated in the movement, after which she was invited to talk show Jinek, to discuss the intentions of the movement and the state of society with Diederik Gommers. 

This case is a good example of what Chadwick  hybrid media system: the combination between older and newer media and the ways in which they interact with each other (Chadwick, 2016). The Jinek talk, which was broadcasted on TV (older media) was a direct result of a movement made on social media (newer media). During the interview, it became clear that Famke did not necessarily mean that she was no longer following the COVID measures, but rather used the hashtag to gain attention to the fact that there are a lot of things unclear and that society is suffering a lot under the measures. Gommers replied that he understood her and that he would like to have a conversation with her to make it more clear how the COVID measures are decided upon.  

Whilst this interview was being broadcasted on TV, many Tweets were posted about both Famke Louise and Diederik Gommers. This practice enabled by the hybrid media system is also called dual screening: “[Using] social media to find out and discuss live, televised events” (Chadwick, 2016). It enables viewers to have a discussion about the event - in this case the Jinek talk - and to voice opinions on the subject.  Image 1 is an emblematic example of the Tweets that were posted most often about Gommers. 

The Conversation

Most Tweets show that the viewers were on Diederik Gommers’ side, like the one above. Famke’s point of view was quite controversial, so the response from the viewers could have gone either way. In this case, Gommers received a lot of praise for his answers that were built with knowledge and explained in an easy manner so both Famke Louise and the viewers would understand it. He was also praised for understanding the problems that Famke Louise brought up and for acknowledging that things could be different, offering to start a conversation with the singer to make it more clear how decisions about the regulations are made. 

Gommers' social media presence

After the interview, Famke Louise encouraged Diederik Gommers to make an Instagram account to keep the conversation going. As of January 2021, the account had over 452 thousand followers and 20 posts. Gommers has embraced the hybrid media system and has realized that besides doing television interviews, the platform is “a nice platform to share and discuss certain matters”. He also immediately expressed in his first post that he will also share more personal matters, like “a picture of a specialty beer.” Looking through Gommers’ Instagram page 2, this is also exactly the message he portrays. The pictures are a mixture of the issue that keeps him busy - work and COVID-related things like meetings and himself in the hospital he works at - and his image - normal, everyday things like hiking, playing hockey, and cleaning his yard (Lemptert & Silverstein, 2012). 

Keyhole

Almost every post has a caption that includes a personal statement, facts about the current state of the COVID crisis, and an experience Gommers has had in his work. To take the post in Image 3 as an example, Gommers starts out with a personal statement, to show that he is a regular person, just like all of his followers: “I've been young too, I know how beautiful it is to celebrate.”

Next, he acknowledges that he understands that the situation is not perfect: “And we ask quite a few of the young people” This is the same thing he was praised for after the Jinek interview with Famke Louise, where he also acknowledged the difficulties of people in society and the fact that the regulations may seem unfair to people who are not involved in the decision process. He often emphasizes that he wants to have conversations with people from society, likely to avoid a ‘government vs. the people’ kind of situation. However, as can be seen in the next sentence, the conversations will not change the fact that some difficulties are necessary for battling the virus: “Still, I really hope everyone will abide by the measures.” This shows that even if he is trying to find a connection with the people, he still uses the platform to communicate health and safety information, in a way that is not judgmental or demanding.

Gommers also discusses the current state of the COVIDcrisis, mixed with his own opinion on it: “I therefore welcome the cabinet's proposal: to act more fanatically so that we can get rid of it sooner.” he OMT, which is an advisory team,  the task of the cabinet. As a result, he may not always be satisfied with the decisions that are being made regarding the regulations or health care. This can also be seen in Image 4, where a person comments “Maybe that all civil servants that DID get a bonus can help out in health care!!” This is a referral to the fact that not all people in the front lines of the COVID crisis have  care bonus for their hard work, even though it was requested many times. Civil servants who mostly perform desk work have gotten a bonus. Gommers responds to this by saying “Yes, crazy message. How is this possible?” 

Even though it is not an explicit critique, he does point out that it is strange that the government has decided to give certain civil servants a bonus, but not all healthcare workers. The way in which he takes on this issue again  message that Gommers wants to communicate, namely that of someone who advises for the government, but at the same time wants to stay critical and keep asking questions.

Gommers does not only use his Instagram account to spread his message and critique. He uses the full hybrid media system, and often does interviews with news outlets, like this interview with AD on December 12 2020.  In the interview, Gommers expresses that he wants an age limit on the admission to the intensive care unit if there are not enough beds. He tells that Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte got angry when he said that it is not a politician’s business to decide about things like that.  are political, because they have a political impact.  opinion about the subject and may resist Rutte’s opinion about the subject in the future, possibly resulting in different political decisions.

 3, the caption then continues with some personal experience from the hospital, put the situation in perspective with first-hand experiences: “Last night I was on duty and saw the crowds. There simply weren't enough beds in our hospital, so people had to stay the night at the E.R. requiring help.” He finishes his caption with some words of encouragement: “Together we can do this!” It is notable that he uses the word “we”, meaning that he very actively includes himself as a person in society, instead of standing above them as part of a government team.

Gommers’ popularity

Gommers shows with this post that he understands the media logics of Instagram. He shares personal information, which shows that he is genuine and authentic. He also shares inside information about COVID-19 that is easy to understand. He communicates his message: he is an understanding and humane expert in COVID-19 matters. His content is likeable, and as a result so is he (Lempert & Silverstein, 2012). This is also confirmed by the responses by other social media users, as can be seen in the emblematic examples that are shown above. Due to his likeable content, Gommers is often reposted and mentioned by broadcast media, which is why he gains a lot of popularity and so does his message (van Dijck & Poell, 2013).

Gommers’ Instagram got a headstart in popularity because he was already getting a lot of media attention due to his aforementioned performance at Jinek. On his second day on Instagram, Gommers already had 120 thousand followers.  As mentioned before, in January 2021, that amount had grown to 452 thousand followers. This was even more than  338 thousand followers that Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, who also posts mainly about COVID-19, had at that time. This difference is likely due to Gommers’ approach to social media, namely producing likeable content, and responding to questions and critiques in his comments.

ICfluencer for the youngsters

The post of Image 3 also gives insight to Diederik Gommers’ posts’ addressivity, i.e.: “quality of being directed to someone” (Lempert & Silverstein, 2012). He speaks to society as a whole (“I really hope everyone will abide by the measures”), but he puts an emphasis on the youngsters. He tries to be relatable to them by using Instagram - a platform that is familiar to many youngsters - as a platform to reach them and by talking about his own experiences as a youngster (“I've been young too, I know how beautiful it is to celebrate.”). He acknowledges their difficulties, as explained before.

It is likely that he explicitly addresses the youngsters, because they are less likely to become very ill from the virus, and thus often do not follow the regulations. It is also likely that  who follow Famke Louise have followed Diederik Gommers after the Jinek episode and after she tagged his account in one of her posts. 

This addressivity seems to be understood by the people, and his aforementioned message is also mainly confirmed by his followers. The comments under his pictures are almost solely praise of his way of giving clear and simple to follow explanations and comments and  connection between the government and the people. Image 5 is an example of the praise that Gommers has received, both on Twitter as in his Instagram comments. 

Gommers’ social media use and message have been so welcomed, that he has even gotten his own title: “ICfluencer”, a play of the words Intensive Care and influencer. This is because he influences people on matters that have to do with the IC. Gommers can be seen as a political influencer (Lewis, 2018), as he actively built and engages with an audience, much like brand influencers do, and then “sells” the audience his earlier described political message.

The use of “ICfluencer” can be seen in Image 6, where a comparison is made between the number of followers from Diederik Gommers and Tisjeboyjay. Tisjeboyjay often posts IGTV’s - which are longer videos on Instagram - about his critiques and questions about the COVID regulations. He was also a part of the #ikdoenietmeermee movement. 

Jason Leung on Unsplash

It is interesting to note that Gommers’ amount of followers now seems to matter. Even more so, people are keeping track of which ‘party’ has more followers, the pro-COVID measures or the anti-COVID measures. Nowadays, attention is very scarce, but important. Only with attention is it possible for someone to have influence. A person will only gain attention when audience labor is performed: interacting with posts, following the account, and sharing it (Maly, 2020). Therefore, the above shows that Gommers is gaining a audience, and that his audience actively performs labor by following him to get him even more attention. His social media presence is not overlooked, and can arguably even be seen as a kind of measurement of the people’s opinion on COVID-19 measures.

Media horny

If one looks hard enough, some negative comments can be found under Diederik Gommers’ posts. An example of this can be seen in Image 7.

The comment in Image 7 states an often-used argument, namely that a flu wave creates the same amount of deaths as COVID, so the measures are unnecessary. Gommers gave a long explanation to this comment, saying that the user is right about the number of deaths, however, the problem is in the overfilled hospitals, because of which they can no longer help patients with other problems than COVID. 

Also among the negative comments, many state that Gommers benefits from COVID because he has a patent for a breathing system. However, he explained on his LinkedIn that the patent is ‘sleeping’ and that he is not earning any money from it. He also stated that the breathing system is meant for other purposes than COVID patients. 

Comments like the above try to alter Gommers' message by changing both the problem - namely that COVID is not as serious - and his image - namely that Gommers is a greedy doctor that wants to benefit from sick people. However, Gommers actively goes against this by explaining himself and the situation and often agreeing with people  example can be seen that he agrees about the number of deaths.

In the case of the patent discussion on LinkedIn, he offered to sign a paper that acknowledges that he may benefit from the sales of his patent. By partly agreeing t still going against the accusations and explaining the situation or even proposing some change, Gommers likely tries to calm the people down to prevent them from spreading the misinformation and get to a state where there is more understanding about COVID. 

A humane expert

Diederik Gommers started his hybrid media journey at the talk show table with Jinek, an event for which he received a lot of praise through dual-screened Tweets. His Instagram posts and comments contribute to his message of being a humane expert in COVID matters. He establishes this message by picking up certain issues like the #ikdoenietmeermee movement, voicing critiques, and debunking misinformation about both him and COVID. These issues show that he is an expert working against a virus and who wants to give clear and simple to follow explanations and critically analyze the situation so society can fight the virus, together with the government. e packages these issues in a personal caption, showing that he is also just an ordinary Dutch person who works in his yard and plays hockey. 

Gommers' captions help to specifically address youngsters, and his media presence has become very important. The term “ICfluencer” was even created for him, and his number of followers is growing, showing that he is successfully producing likable content and gaining attention as a political influencer through audience labor. is use of the hybrid media system is political. He tries to help society and the government by staying humane yet critical as an expert, and his critique can have a big political impact. His efforts to make COVID science accessible to all even brought him the Machiavelli price of 2020, a price for a remarkable performance in the field of public communication. 

All in all, Diederik Gommers has quite successfully shared his message of being an ordinary Dutchman who is fighting a deadly virus. 

References

Chadwick, A., Dennis, J., & Smith, A.P. (2016). Politics in the Age of Hybrid Media: Power, Systems, and Media Logics. In Bruns, A., Enli, G., Skogerbø, E., Larsson, A.O., & Christensen, C. (Eds) The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics. New York: Routledge

Lempert, M., & Silverstein, M. (2012). Creatures of politics: Media, Message, and the American Presidency. Indiana University Press

Lewis, R. (2018). Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube. Data&Society

Maly, Ico. (2020). Algorithmic populism and the datafication and gamification of the people by Flemish interest in Blegium. Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada, 59(1), 444-468. Epub May 22, 2020.https://doi.org/10.1590/01031813685881620200409

Van Dijck, J., & Poell, T. (2013). Understanding Social Media Logic. Media and Communication, 1(1), 2-14.