Despite what the social media evangelists would like to claim, the forthcoming election will not be won through tweets, postings and blogs. It will generate much social media debate – and a painful amount of bullshit – but just like in the US, it will ultimately be a battle of mobilisation.
Obama didn’t win because he used Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook. He won because his team had worked out exactly the best way to turn peoples’ interest into action. Admittedly, much of that interest, especially from younger voters, was generated and expressed through social media, but ultimately it was the millions of telephone calls and visits to peoples’ houses that mobilised the Democratic vote.
This point of view appears to be shared by Matthew McGregor from Blue State Digital (Obama’s digital gurus). In an Observer article, ironically entitled, ‘How the 2010 election will be won by blogs and tweets’ he said, “Blogs and politicians twittering get most attention, but under the radar a new form of organising supporters is happening. By energising people, and then giving them the tools to get involved and become advocates for the party, thousands of people are talking to volunteers, passionate about the issues and ready for a conversation. It is a new way of doing traditional politics.”