Social media takes off in first week of election campaign
Posted April 2, 2011 5:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – A social media analyst says the first week of the federal election campaign has shown Twitter to be an effective amplifier for politicians.
Mark Blevis says Twitter allowed Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to keep the pressure on Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a one-on-one leaders’ debate for several days in a row. “Michael Ignatieff puts out his Tweet. That little microcosm of politically engaged enthusiasts are going to be the ones who are going to launch that message out.”
Blevis says Ignatieff’s Twitter challenge to Harper was re-Tweeted by many people, spreading it far beyond the usual political circles.
That spread continued today when comedian Rick Mercer offering to host a one-on-one debate at a Toronto concert hall and give $50,000 to each of the leaders’ favourite charity.
Ignatieff responded immediately that he liked the idea; there was no immediate response from Harper’s camp.
Blevis adds almost half of all tweets about the federal election campaign are re-Tweets: simple repeats of an earlier message. He says that has allowed politicians to get their messages out repeatedly, to an ever-widening audience.
