Candidates chase tweet success on social networks

Getting your message out at election times was once about pounding the pavements and meetings in draughty halls but today’s politician is also expected to be adept in the art of using social media. looks at how our candidates rate

“Just announced: Our New Deal for the NHS will take one million people off waiting lists & fix England’s A&ES.”

This tweet popped into the Twitter feeds of Canterbury and Whitstable Labour candidate Rosie Duffield’s 3,637 followers on Monday as we head into the last three weeks ahead of polling day on June 8. It is one of nearly 200 tweets she has made since the election was called.

Elsewhere candidate James Flanagan used Twitter on Saturday not to promote Lib Dem policy, but to show his supporters that he’s out and about in the constituency campaigning. The photograph shows him with four party activists on a hill overlooking Whitstable.

The next one shows him with members of the East Kent European Movement, a nod to the party’s position on the UK’S future relations with the European Union.

Less prominent on the social networking site is Sir Julian Brazier, the Conservative Party candidate, and the Green Party’s Henry Stanton.

Both have Facebook and Twitter accounts, although their activity is limited.

However, it’s Ms Duffield with her thousand of tweets and her extensive list of followers who undoubtedly takes the election constituency’s social media crown.

“I’m actually a bit of an addict,” she said. “We even had a meeting this week to discuss how we could improve our output still further.

“Labour has got a lot of students supporting us because they are against tuition fees and they come up with ideas about what we can do on Twitter and Facebook.

“I really like the fact that you can reach people instantly and swap messages with people. It does have it’s downside and sometimes it can get a bit nasty, but that goes with the territory.”

She has also used Facebook where she posted a video explaining the key elements of her campaign.

Also using video is Mr Stanton, who has published a number of videos outlining his position on Facebook. He is scheduled to holding a live social media session via Face- book and Twitter when he will interact directly with voters on Sunday, May 28.

He said: “In this campaign, I intend to talk with as many people face-to-face as I can, but sadly it isn’t possible to meet with everyone.

“Unlike a leaflet, Facebook and Twitter give me the chance to talk with people in a way we’ve never done before. We’ve reached more than 21,000 people in the constituency in the last few weeks via Facebook alone.

“In this election, we are voting on national issues like the NHS and schools, but our vote also affects what happens to the Kent and Canterbury hospital. The live social media session will allow people to put me to the test.”

While Henry has the fewest tweets and the lowest amount of followers, he says the Green Party is well aware of the advantages of using social media to target voters.

“On a merely practical level, it’s a great way to publicise events and disseminate information about Green issues,” he said.

“However, it can also be used as a political tool. We’ve put a couple of videos on there to rebut some things the Conservatives have said and they’ve been seen by thousands of people.”

Henry adds that while social media is useful nationally, it’s impact in Canterbury and Whitstable may be limited by the fact that more than half the constituency is over the age of 60 and thus less likely to be a user of it.

This explains why the Conservative candidate Sir Julian Brazier still believes in the oldfashioned method of pounding the pavements and speaking to voters.

“Since the election was called I’ve been doing four hours a day of campaigning, getting out and knocking on doors,” Sir Julian said.

“There really is nothing like getting out and actually seeing people face to face and to explain to them what it is the Conservative Party stands for and that we are also interested on their point of view.

“I do have a Facebook page which has quite a lot of followers and I do send out the odd tweet, but they aren’t always the best way to win over converts. That said, I will be increasing the social media activity as we get closer to the election.”

The candidate may well be proud of their social media output – but at the end of the day only one type of communication actually matters: a cross marked on a piece of paper dropped into a box on June 8.

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