Report suggests that Twitter has become a "core communication tool" in political and media circles and social media increased election participation among 18-24-year-olds
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Online and social media "enriched" mainstream election coverage, despite the dominance of the televised leaders' debates, a new study of the UK's 2010 general election suggests.
The report 'UK election 2010: mainstream media and the role of the internet: how social and digital media affected the business of politics and journalism' , authored by the co-founder of the BBC News website Nic Newman, presents findings from interviews with more than 20 people, including journalists, political bloggers and founders of political websites.
The results show that Twitter in particular has become a "core communication tool" in political and media circles, says Newman in a release marking the launch of the report tomorrow. With more than 600 party political candidates using the service during the election, it became "an essential source of real-time information for journalists and politicians", he says.
For the study, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) also conducted a survey of more than 200 18-24-year-olds, which suggested that "unprecedented levels of participation" with the general election were a result of increased social media coverage.
The use of social media tools by journalists and mainstream news sites, such as liveblogs and digital correspondents, "helped to amplify the impact of social media even further" on this age group, says the study.
"Before the 2010 UK election, it was being billed as the internet election. Ironically, the biggest media story of the election ended up being a television event: a set piece leadership debate which turned the campaign on its head - with the internet seen as a sideshow. However, this research shows how the internet enabled the election to come alive and engage, particularly the younger electorate. This study shows that far from becoming disengaged from the political process, as some had feared would happen, young voters tweeted, blogged and used online chat-rooms to discuss the last election. There is also evidence to show that online information, context and real-time feedback enriched and invigorated the mainstream election coverage in newspapers, TV and radio," says Newman in the release.
"The old command and control instinct may reassert itself when parties are no longer up for re-election, but voters and audiences may have something to say about that (…) The complications of this new reality are that 18-24-year-olds do enjoy big events like the TV debates, but they are not prepared to consume political messages passively."
