This video is well worth watching to get a sense of the impact the information age will have on election campaigning.
Mendip Media, the people behind the video, also build websites. An example is Mark Garnier's brilliant website for his campaign to win back Wyre Forest.
I'd be really interested to know where readers think this is all going. This is my take . . . Many people think the next election will be the first true internet election. While I find internet campaiging fascinating and six months is a long time in the information age, I'm not convinced. My sense is that web campaigning has not yet caught fire in the same way as it did in the US Presidential election. Traffic levels are good, but not yet transformative. Somehow the tipping point has not quite been reached.
Most likely is that in local campaigns and nationally, the broadcast and print media, lots of leaflets and getting out and about at fetes and community events will matter far more. A shoe leather election more than an internet election. But still . . . watch out for being done over on YouTube and be prepared for the election of 2014 / 2015 being a full blown information age election.
So it is coming down the line. The most likely scenario for now is that the internet will be important for finding and marshalling helpers, supporters and fellow travellers. And to engage effectively with younger people in our communities. This is the experience that I have had with using social media in Dover & Deal. Sam Coates' brilliant work on myconservatives may well surprise in how effective it will make campaigning on the ground. And engaging with potential supporters in the sort of conversation you can have with Web 2.0 and social media like Facebook and Twitter is an essential to turn "I might help" into "I am engaged and will help to make the difference." That seems a key difference between the old shop window web page and the newer two way conversation you can have.
