Will it be a 'digital election?'

Following in the footsteps of the US presidential election, UK marketing news commentators are discussing the idea that the impending general election will use digital channels to influence voters.

With the BBC announcing the creation of a ”digital election correspondent” to report on the latest Facebook and Twitter goings on, it seems increasingly likely that next month’s election will move away from more traditional campaigning practices, such as knocking on people’s doors, to tweeting and uploading video content to sites such as YouTube.

Whilst Nick Robinson was cited on a BBC blog as saying that such social networking tools were ”self important narcissistic tosh,” it seems likely that parties will embrace this ”tosh” to promote themselves and their policies in the upcoming weeks.

This is the first time such campaigning has been seen in the UK, with the likes of smartphones, YouTube and Twitter, not prominent five years ago. The Independent reports that the rise in such technology has been dramatic, with more internet users absorbing and generating online content.

Politicians are hoping to harness this growth, using it to engage with their electorate, portraying themselves as viable, personable contenders. In an election that seems dominated by personality as well as policy, using social networking and video sharing sites successfully, may yet swing the increasingly undecided electorate.

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