OK, time for my 2 pennys’ worth on the impact of Social Media on the General Election. Whoa, hot topic!
When I started these election posts, I searched at length to find out how the Newbury candidates were engaging with the electorate online. I’ve already posted some of my findings – would recommend you check out the links there. But how effective are these online presences for the candidates?
Let’s have a look at usage on the main Facebook groups for David Rendel and Richard Benyon:
Richard Benyon Supporters’ Group – 138 members, at least a year old, 16 main wall posts since the 6th April
Richard Benyon Campaign Page – 38 fans, only created this week, 9 main wall posts
So how effective are these pages? Well, it was a good start that Richard already had a supporters’ group on Facebook – this has no doubt condensed some support. Although there are only 138 members, they’ll probably tell their friends and families in real life about the campaign and drive further votes for Richard – all good news.
However, I’m bemused by the decision to create a separate fan page weeks before the election. Potential supporters may now be split between the two – sure, there are links, but there’s very little to be gained, and much to be lost by confusing your supporters.
Having said that, Richard is now posting some interesting notes & links back to his blog talking about his experiences on the campaign, who he has been talking to and so on. These help to explain what he’s about and strengthen his credibility.
David Rendel for Newbury – 96 members, not clear when created, apparently not “official”, only 3 wall posts
David Rendel campaign page – 145 fans, at least a month old, 3 main wall posts since start of campaign
David’s campaign page is being used effectively to present information about the campaign, including links to Liberal Democrat leaflets and their party manifesto. There’s also a powerful video on there about tax policy – all good stuff that helps present the candidate well.
Again, though, there are two Facebook locations. In this case it seems one of them may have been set up by supporters, and not directly by David’s campaign team – I’m surprised nobody has added a link to David’s official page though.
So both candidates have support on Facebook – that’s good, right? Well, yes… but it could be a lot better. What’s missing?
- Above all else, activity. Social networking thrives on frequent updates that draw in supporters and keep them coming back to find out more – and when they do, often their contacts visit too. With 3 weeks to go till polling day, I’d expect at the very least 4 or 5 updates per day from the campaign teams.
- Interactivity – there’s not much for supporters to do other than post wall messages. Why not start polls, start discussions, get people involved? Again, it’s all about pulling people in, engaging them honestly and keeping the campaign firmly in their awareness.
- Tell people about what you’re going to be doing! I’m amazed that neither candidate is talking about where they’re planning to be, or what events they’re planning to hold. Surely if you want to engage with people and encourage their support, they need to be able to find you?
- Online integration – there are some links to the candidates’ websites, but this could be made much more visible. It’s also notable that none of the Facebook pages directly explain to people how they can help support – why aren’t there clearer links to donation or volunteering information?
- Offline integration – it would also help to have website and Facebook group details included with other campaign publicity such as leaflets. That way people who might not think to search for the candidates can be drawn in and get involved in online activity.
- A broader spectrum of online campaigning – have a feed on Twitter, have a channel on YouTube, create a group on Flickr – the list goes on. Facebook is the biggest, but it’s not the only social media in town. Reaching across as many channels as possible, tied tightly into a coherent campaign, will involve the greatest number of people.
- It’s a bit late now… but start all this earlier! Building communities and dedicated support online takes time, and a four-week general election campaign is not long enough. For next time, I’d hope to see groups supported and grown over several years to really hit the ground running for the elections.
So – that’s my advice for the local candidates, should they read this! I’d love to hear any feedback or your thoughts on this article – either drop in a comment below or ping me @jimmillen.
I’ll be following this up with further posts about how social media is being used for the national election campaigns, and the contrast between national and local – check back soon!
[Footnote 1: For more social media election goodness, Nigel Morgan has an excellent post here and also recorded a short interview with Newbury Sound.]
[Footnote 2: None of the other candidates for Newbury appear to have local Facebook groups or other social media presences. Adrian Hollister of the Green Party has a Twitter feed, but this is not dedicated to his campaigning activities.]
