ELECTION 2.0?

Don’tbelieve the hype

Apex Communications has been advising corporate, public and third sector clients on communications issues since 2005. Brought together by commercial strategist Pete Bowyer and former government adviser Ed Owen, Apex Communications helpsorganisations influence opinions and shape reputations.

Carlo Gibbs is Head of Online Engagement at Apex Communications

Get Elected is the only cross-party service that provides campaignsupport to candidates seeking election political office. Formed in2009, Get Elected has provided candidates with a range of services, from constituency research, to web-design and speech writing.

James Knight is Director of Get Elected

Kind thanks and acknowledgements to the wider Get Elected team,in particular James Coady and Mark Staniland.

1. About us

The upcoming election is likely to be one of the tightest in recent years and the first time the nation has gone to the polls since the explosion of social media. This report has assessed the online presence of candidates across 100 key battleground and high profile seats. We have reviewed and analysed the activity of candidates who we consider have a genuine chance of winning their seat, and have looked at how prepared they are to campaign online for the election.This included a review of websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts.Inevitably, the three major parties have been battling each other to gain the supremacy online and havebeen developing some highly sophisticated software and online campaigning techniques. However, relatively little has been assessed about how individual candidates are using online platforms to help enhance their campaigns in constituencies across the UK.Our research took place throughout February 2010 and has provided a thorough audit of presence andactivity levels online. The results clearly indicate that discussion surrounding the prominence and potentialimpact of social media platforms is often both over-stated and exaggerated.