OTTAWA - Forget letter-writing campaigns and well-rehearsed protesters chanting partisan slogans: Twitter is the new "amplifier" for political leaders aiming to mobilize supporters and keep the pressure on opponents, one social media analyst says.
Whether it was Green party Leader Elizabeth May trying to get a place in the leaders' debate or Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff demanding a one-on-one showdown with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the messages of leaders were retweeted over and over during the first week of the campaign.
The result, said digital public affairs strategist Mark Blevis, was continued pressure -- a sort of digital chant that continued for days.
"The (leaders) really realize that this is an opportunity to get people involved in talking ... and amplify ideas by sharing them with others," Blevis said.
"Michael Ignatieff puts out his tweet. That little microcosm of political enthusiasts ... are going to be the ones that launch that message out, and it's that message going out to their own networks of friends and family and colleagues and followers that gets the message out further."
There were more than 99,000 Twitter messages about the election campaign in the first week, Blevis said, and almost half were retweets -- simple repeats of existing messages passed on to a wider audience.
Many retweets were of Ignatieff's gauntlet-dropping "any time, any place" message on Wednesday. The retweets and replies kept coming.
Then, on Saturday, comedian Rick Mercer offered to rent a concert hall in Toronto and host the one-on-one debate. He offered to also put up $50,000 to each of the leaders' favourite charities.
Ignatieff replied immediately that he'd be interested. There was no immediate reply from the Harper camp.
Whether all the online chatter has any impact in the real world remains to be seen.
Harper replied to Ignatieff's initial challenge Wednesday by saying the Conservatives originally proposed a one-on-one debate, only to be greeted by stony Liberal silence. The broadcast consortium behind the televised leaders' debates has stood firm in its decision to bar Elizabeth May from the two events. On Tuesday, her lawyer will take her case to the Federal Court of Appeal.
The Canadian Press analysis of social media during this campaign is being carried out daily, with Blevis using a mapping program called Sysomos to scan Twitter, blogs, online forums and other social media sites for election-related traffic.
The methodology is not scientific; searches are being tailored to try to capture material that is clearly linked to the campaign by using a set of 10 hashtags for Twitter and specific sets of keywords for other media or issues.
