[/caption]With the success achieved by the Obama campaign team in the run up to the Presidential elections using social media, the question has been asked, "how influential will social media be in the upcoming General Elections?"
Matthew McGregor of Blue State Digital, said it in plain terms, "Tweets don't win elections."
On 2nd March 2010, Sabian in the audience of a summit that had the above question as its focal point.
Called, "2010, the first media election?" and chaired by Evan Davies of Dragons' Den fame, the summit brought together a panel of experts in the field of politics, social media and education.
Speaking to a room of university students, the panel tried to navigate the waters, which as of yet, have not been adequately sailed in. I mean can you imagine Gordon Brown on Twitter or Facebook with his own account, a fan page, tweeting every half an hour about his campaign...."in Leicester now, should be fun, wish me luck, watch it on BBC..."
It is a comical concept but it could become a very REAL concept over the coming months.
The question is, how will the social media community respond to such an unheard of tactic in British politics?
Rishi Saha, a Conservative New Media advisor was right in saying,"internet has changed barriers to entry, it's much easier now, to support a cause."
Which is true, but given the fact that these "barriers to entry" have been pushed it also means that the security barrier has also been pushed, the internet in my opinion is so extremely spread that there is no telling WHERE the barriers actually reside, which is why people find themselves victims to identity fraud and privacy invasion.
Rupa Huq, a prolific Labour blogger and panellist, highlighted how powerful social media is, stating, in very simple terms, that,"a camera-phone picture, an angry comment written in haste can destroy an election campaign."
I was asked on behalf of MediaTrust, who I am working with, to open the questioning session for the debate.
I opened my statement by saying, "I believe that if the social media element becomes as widely used in the elections as is being suggested here, it could become as great as the space race. It is uncharted territory for British politics. However, social media has two different audiences, young and old. How the young people interact with social media is not the same way adults interact with social media. So how would the politicians be able to bridge this gap and cater to BOTH parties. Use the analogy of the playground, anyone can enter the playground, but that doesn't mean you know how to mix with the groups. You have the 'cool kids' and you have the 'geeks' how will you find common ground between the two?"
In my opinion, if this really takes off as insinuated at the debate, this could be the first campaign that actively involves young people.
The comparisons between Barack Obama's use of social media and the inevitable incorporation of it in British campaigns, is not a fair one. Barack Obama's campaign was a novelty, it was a phenomenon, it was this phenomenon, this novelty that harnessed such a positive response to the president's campaign.
This is something that also needs to be taken into account.
But in other news, I met the man, I had to emulate when I presented Envoys' Den back last year, the presenter of Dragons' Den Evan Davies. A really laid-back yet professional man.
[caption id="attachment_95" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Presenter of Dragons' Den Evan Davies meets Presenter of Envoys' Den SabianM"]
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