David Cameron is not on Twitter. Will it cost him the election?
@Downing Street,the PM’s official Twitter page, has nearly 2 million followers. Sarah Brown has just over a million. The Conservatives’ official mouthpiece has around 20,000. Not very impressive. But still more than the Lid Dems and Nick Clegg put together.
Surely, though, in the digital age, where personality rules over party and the youth (ah fickle youth) is almost completely disengaged with politics, politicians need to get social media savvy.
Television isn’t the medium through which elections are fought these days. Just look at Barack Obama. MySpace, Facebook, he even had his own site MyBO, through which he raised the majority of his campaign money. And he won.
"Oh no it wasn't..."
Is there a link? Most likely. The fact is social media is the latest en vogue drug, everyone who’s anyone is on it. By not tweeting, Cameron will almost certainly not help his campaign. While it might be sensationalist to proclaim that social media alone can win an election – which would be similar to what the Sun did in 1992 – there can be no doubt it is an as yet unploughed furrow.
It can mobilise people – such as the not too distant Trafigura and Jan Moir tweetstorms – and it can make you accessible. This second element is highly important in the often muddy game of personality politics.
Of course there have been many cringing moments when politicians have been bold enough to try and be “down with the kids”. Often misjudged, these forays into popular culture are often mocked by the media and politicians would retreat to the safety of their second homes, complete with moats to keep the wretched masses out.
While the pitfalls may be many, politicians, like journalists before them, need to learn the etiquette and rules of engagement before venturing into social media. Obama’s campaign is a good place to start. Come on Cameron, don’t be such a fuddy duddy.
