So currently Labour is leading the way politically on Twitter, with nearly 67% of all MPs that tweet belonging to the party (LibDems sit on 18% and the Tories on 12%) and this bodes well pending the next general election. Digital interactions with voters will play an integral part to campaigning activity, and with main campaign websites currently starting to go live, the social networking area of things (blogs, twitter, facebook etc) will be a much more effective way of reaching voters than previous attempts.
Macmillan refers to Obama’s presidential campaign in his blog, an example I think everyone will be thinking back to when looking at the offerings from our candidates closer to home. I’m pretty sure none of our homely Brit MPs will have anything half as good as the campaign Obama rolled out, but of course they’ll probably all try.
In August, Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy was named the most influential MP on Twitter, and so Labour named her as their official media campaigns spokesperson. She is therefore in charge of coordinating Labour’s online presence, helping MPs share best practice online, and encouraging them to get involved with their supporters. A smart move by the party I think, especially n the run up to the general; there needs to be guidelines in place for those tweeting and sharing party views. Obviously one of the biggest benefits of these online presence is the fact it allows for 2 way comms between the MPs and their constituents.
By writing simple 140-character messages on what they are getting up to, it’ll start a dialogue, and by linking to blogs and social networking sites this could allow for more in-depth discussions on the issues that truly matter to voters.
As someone with a wee bit of experience door knocking, I know that a large amount of people are not interested in engaging with politics, especially in this invasive method. Twitter, (although technically more invasive as its in your house on your computer) allows people to access politicians on a more ad-hoc basis, when they want, and asking their questions directly without us lovely doorstep go-betweeners.
As long as politicians are dedicated to Tweeting, and actually write things of worth, then this method of communicating with voters could start to influence the new generation of voters who use social networking more and more to fetch and interact with the information they most desire.
For more info, links and research into this interesting subject (am I a geek?!) read Macmillan’s blog HERE.
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