The ‘internet election’ begins

The election has been announced. A May 6 election has been expected for so long it hardly seems newsworthy.  But the tightness in the polls and high number of floating voters means the outcome is far from certain.  It promises to be a close and hard fought campaign.

I’ve lost count of how often I’ve heard it described as our first ‘internet election’.  As I’ve said here before, I don’t think we’ll see anything like the levels of sophistication in the use of social media that we did during Obama’s campaign in the US. 

However, there is no doubt that the digital media landscape is unrecognisable to what it was during the last general election.  Civil servants and government communicators leafing through the election guidance issued by the Cabinet Office this afternoon might have noticed that the section on digital media is much changed since 2005.

The document, revised and re-issued at each election, sets out the appropriate conduct of government business to ensure impartiality during the campaign.  Back in 2005, in a section simply titled ‘The Internet’ (how quaint!), it was advised that “webmasters must take particular care” because “official websites are a form of broadcasting… and will be closely monitored by the news media and the political parties”.  It said that “Interactive functions such as discussion groups which allow the public posting of comment or debate should be suspended.”

How things have changed.  In the 2010 guidance, the section on ‘Digital media’ covers websites, social networking and Twitter.  Far from calling for interaction to be suspended, the guidance now recommends that official participation in social media is simply limited during the election campaign to operational (rather than policy) matters and signposting users to existing content.

Public servants whose jobs take them online will be wise to take care during the election campaign.  I certainly don’t think this election is going to be won or lost in cyberspace, but social media is playing a part and politicians, the media and communicators are all finding themselves in new territory.

Take, for example, the Tories recent series of poster campaigns.  No­-one predicted how easily they would be spoofed and mocked; the sheer number of people with a little knowledge of Microsoft Paint and a little too much time on their hands; and the speed with which the spoofs would be circulating and being picked up by the mainstream media.   

The latest Tory posters show they’ve learned from this and are working on ‘spoof-proofing’.  A simple font on a plain background is far too easy for a spoofer to replace with their own witticisms.  In the latest poster, by wrapping the words around the front of the boots in the image, the number of spoofers will be limited to those with the necessary software, design skills and inclination to replace them.

We’re all learning as we go along.  We’re yet to see how the parties will respond to the inevitable gaffe posted on You Tube, or a video from the leader’s debates with an amusing alternative soundtrack dubbed over the top.  The 6 O’clock news is still important, but controlling what they’ll be talking about on the 6 O’clock news isn’t so straightforward any more. 

After so many years of ever-tightening media control by the political parties, it suddenly feels very different.  It might not be pretty, but it’s going to be fascinating to watch it unfold over the next four weeks.