This years election was touted as an anything can happen event and, true to p

redictions, there were more than a few surprises. Before polling day we had the
first ever televised leaders debates, resulting in a surprise surge in support
for the Liberal Democrats, consistently beating Labour to second place in the po
lls.
And the surprises didnt stop there once the election was called, the Lib Dems
actually lost six seats, while the Greens had their first ever MP elected in Br
ighton Pavilion. We saw the first hung parliament since 1974, the first coalitio
n since 1945 and the first significant number of Liberals in government since 19
32.
But the excitement of these truly historic events meant another precedent was la
rgely overlooked the election was also the first since the appearance of socia
l networking sites Facebook and Twitter, while YouTube had existed for barely tw
o months at the start of the campaign.
Not that this got past mobile phone network Orange. They felt confident enough t
o call it the UKs first Digital Election and commissioned a report to investi
gate.
Simon Grossman, Oranges Head of Government Policy said: Its amazing to think
that in the last election in 2005, the likes of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and s
martphone apps didnt exist, or held very little resonance. It s clear from this
research that the use of technology by the political parties has made politics
more accessible and interactive and ultimately more interesting to a younger au
dience.
Their research showed almost a quarter of young people aged 18-24 were actively
engaged in the election through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, wi
th eight in ten expressing an interest. This is despite the age group being the
most traditionally associated with voter apathy.
More than 65 per cent of Facebook users in the UK are under the age of 35, with
almost two fifths of these between the ages of 18 and 24. And, according to Chec
kFacebook.com, the site represents for more than three fifths of internet users
in the UK.
The huge potential of these numbers was not lost on the Electoral Commission, wh
o worked with Facebook during the campaign so users signing into the site would
be asked whether they had registered to vote. If they clicked no, they were re
directed to the Commissions website, where they could do so online.
And with such a huge market for votes, political parties have wasted no time i
n getting involved more than a quarter of a million Facebook users have signal
led they like the pages of one of the three main political parties and/or thei
r youth movements.
The Conservatives appear to be leading on Facebook with 115,550 supporters, foll
owed by the Liberal Democrats with 96,500 and Labour trailing behind with less t
han 64,600.
The Tories also lead in Twitters parliamentary presence. According to @tweetmin
ster, out of the 195 MPs currently using the service, 40% of these are Conservat
ives, with 38% Labour and 16% Lib Dems.
But with great opportunities comes great scope for embarrassment. Gordon Brown r
eceived a stinging attack by then-cabinet minister Hazel Blears with her YouTub
e if you want to jibe after the PM spoke to the country through the video websi
te.
This was itself ripe for parody, with one blogger (keeptonyblairforpm) adding T
he ladys not for gurning - a reference to the many uncomfortable and inappropr
iate smiles Mr Brown made throughout the broadcast.
But although the internet appears to have successfully mobilised the youth vote,
it does still beggar the question: if this was, in fact, the Digital Election
; why did it take a TV debate for Nick Clegg to get noticed?
Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics at Sheffield University said: Much of t
he political content on the internet is just preaching to the converted. I just
dont believe the vast majority of people have any time or interest in Twitter o
r blogging its a bit more middle class really.
But public interest in the debates was absolutely incredible. Peoples views we
re altered by the expenses crisis, giving Nick Clegg an open goal. Before the de
bates, the public had never really understood what the Lib Dems stood for.
Nonetheless, the influence of digital media is growing in April 2009 it was bl
ogger Paul Staines (aka Guido Fawkes) who ended the career of Gordon Browns spe
cial advisor Damien McBride, by posting leaked emails McBride had sent on plans
to smear senior Tories and their families.
But blogger Harry Cole (aka Tory Bear), 24, admits this power is aided by tradit
ional print and broadcast: Blogs have more power now, and any MP would be fooli
sh not to take them seriously. They can bring you down. There is also more media
attention, as the blog entries and tweets on Twitter end up across the papers.
They are now part of the news cycle.
Sarah Baumann, 23, a Labour supporter from Leeds, agreed, saying: Politics has
been able to extend its reach to the previously apathetic or disenchanted voters
through social networking sites, forcing all candidates to confront the murky i
ssues within their manifestos.
But some young supporters dispute the idea of a Digital Election. David Grundy
, 25, a Conservative supporter from London, said: It didn t change that much in
actual campaigning, apart from making it faster to organise campaigns and canva
ssing events. Facebook is not all that useful in gauging support either because
it is very skewed towards younger people, some of whom can t vote and the rest w
ho can t be bothered.
It is clear that, while the power and influence of social media in politics is g
rowing, it still has far to go where traditional media and campaigning technique
s are concerned.
In a perhaps unintentional echo of Karl Marxs famous maxim on philosophers, Ste
phen Shakespeare (@stephenshaxper), CEO of YouGov, tweeted a warning to Digital
Election enthusiasts on May 11: Twitter makes politicians seem more accessibl
e. To matter it needs to change their behaviour.