It really does seem that everyone is now involved with social media in some way or another and now even our political parties are competing via this medium. First we had individual political parties with websites, then YouTube channels now Facebook pages, most recently we have now seen the development of a Facebook page called Democracy UK which will highlight and discuss all news coverage from all political parties on the run up to the general election. As the general election gets nearer it is understandable that all attempts will be made by political parties to gain support, however can this really be done over the likes of Facebook? It would seem that those controlling the Spin for these parties believe yes. For this reason the war on social networking sites has begun.
Primarily focussing in Facebook it is fair to say that this is a site that will be used as a key campaign tool for all parties; the UK now has over 23million Facebook users so it is unsurprising that the PR practitioners behind party campaigns will be keen to target this mass market. Facebook is a cheap and powerful tool that allows one to target the masses. Facebook is the kind of tool that can target floating voters those who perhaps have a disaffected view of politics. As is stated in the Metro “Facebook will be of vital importance to political parties wishing to woo the younger vote”.
In the 2008 Presidential election in the USA Facebook seemed to play a major role in the election of Barack Obama as President, it is hoped that Facebook will play an important role in the run up to the 2010 UK elections.
It has recently been reported that the Conservative Party is currently winning the electoral battle on Facebook. A combination of the Tories ‘friends’ ‘members’ and ‘fans’ amassed to 154,000 in comparisson to the Lib Dems 68,000 and Labours 62,200. The Tories in fact have more affiliates than the Lib Dems and Labour put together. David Cameron has a personal support network of 16,320 and makes him the most popular MP on Facebook. All of these aspects make for a crushing blow to a Labour Party that was famous for its use of Spin and media support only a few short years ago. According to a report published by Diffusion, a communications agency in London: “Conservatives have embraced Facebook as a potential campaigning tool more enthusiastically than candidates from rival political parties. As we head into a general election, the size of the Conservative party's presence on Facebook gives it a potentially huge advantage.”
Despite the Conservatives having a greater amount of support on Facebook this does not gaurantee victory in any shape or form, this online support will only be of advantage to them if it is translated into voter turnout on election day. These online campaigns can generate media attention and support but success will only be granted to the winner on election day not to the winner of a social media battle. This idea is confirmed by Ivan Ristic, director at Diffusion who states, “The key test for all political parties will be how well they can turn their Facebook friends into Facebook advocates, willing to canvass for support both online and on the pavement.”
How influential can Facebook be in a UK election? That remains to seen however this is perhaps a question that will be more easily answered after the 6th of May.
