Social media is an opportunity for politicians to build trust
Posted on | January 11, 2010 | No Comments
As we draw closer to the general election we should be prepared to be bombarded by the usual political marketing/propaganda. After the excitement of the Obama campaign we shouldn’t be mistaken for thinking that Cameron or Brown may look at how to leverage social media. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Both have used Youtube, perhaps not very successfully, and Brown does have a Twitter account, as does his wife Sarah.
Perhaps one of the best examples of a politician’s use of social media is Andrew Marshall, the Councillor for Swiss Cottage. He has a blog and Twitter account in which he posts updates about key issues affecting his constituents. This has recently been highlighted by his reaction to the bad weather, where he has asked people to update him on road reports and problems he may not be aware of. He is not trying to sell people a political ideal, he is simply using social media as a tool to improve his communications and make him a better councillor. Essentially, he is building trust.
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