Social Media and The Election ‘10

Looking back to the last General Election in 2005, Social Media was barely an emerging phenomenon. Facebook was about a year old, YouTube was just beginning and no one had even heard of Twitter. But oh how things have changed! Barack Obama successfully utilised the benefits of a range of social mediums during his campaign for Presidency of the USA as he was able to address voters concerns and queries directly. “There is only one tool, one platform, one medium that allows the American people to take their government back, and that’s the internet…” Not only did the internet help to get Obama’s messages across to the American public, it also played a vital role in generating campaign funds. The quote comes from a former presidential campaign manager, and as such it’s important that both Gordon Brown and David Cameron are advised as thoroughly as possible with regards to getting the most out of the digital arena.

The battle between Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats won’t necessarily be decided by who can exploit Social Media avenues most effectively, but it will certainly play a strong part. Take for instance the number of Facebook friends Barack Obama had on election day (3,000,000) and the number his opponent John McCain had (600,000) and it gives an idea of the importance of maximising the number of people to whom they were able to get their messages across. A vast percentage of Obama’s Facebook ‘friends’ would also have been in the younger age-range, a demographic group which wouldn’t have had much interest in politics and who possibly wouldn’t have even bothered to cast a vote in previous elections. However, they were given more information and educated more directly via Facebook, with policies and reforms actually relevant to them being proposed at the click of a mouse.

The PM candidates need to ensure that they get their policies right and not try to please everyone by making false promises or contradicting themselves. It’s easier nowadays for politicians to be caught out if they ever go back on their word or contradict themselves as there are now so many ways for them to get their messages across. The last thing they want is to say one thing during a live debate broadcast and post something conflicting on Twitter. Early indications (as of 07/04/2010) show that  on Facebook Fan Pages, Labour has 12,691 fans, the Conservatives have 32,498 fans and the Lib Dems have 11,991 fans. The Conservative party’s digital team are also rumoured to be spending around 20% of their time on Twitter. Worrying signs for Labour? Not necessarily, as Sarah Brown, wife of current PM Gordon Brown, has over 1.1 million followers on Twitter whereas the Tories only have over 23,000 followers.

It will be very interesting to see how the Election evolves through Social Media, and how the battle for fans and followers pans out over the following weeks. One thing is for sure, the internet is now having a huge impact on politics and the party which exploits the digital avenues most effectively will surely give themselves a great chance come May 2010.