Twittering in Nova Scotia

If you follow the Nova Scotia election, you will have noticed the use of Twitter among media, political parties, candidates, and Nova Scotians. This was most obvious leading up to the election debate on June 2: CBC and The Chronicle Herald used their presence to encourage followers to “Tweet” their questions in advance of the upcoming debate.

According to the latest statistics by nielsen wire, Twitter has become the 5th ranked social network/blog site in the U.S. based on total minutes on the site from April 2008-April 2009 –  increasing 3,712% to nearly 300 million minutes (the fastest growing network!).

There is no questioning Twitter’s popularity. However, while social networking and micro blogging are all the rage, information on the demographics and behaviours of ‘Twitterers’ – especially in Nova Scotia (and across Canada) – is scarce. The Canadian Internet Use Survey reported almost three-quarters (73%), or 19.2 million Canadians aged 16 and older, went online for personal reasons in 2007. The survey also reported that 69% of Nova Scotians used the Internet. While growing online activities included blogging, chatting and downloading, the popularity of these activities varied based on income, education and age. There was also no data on social network usage. This is an important point because sound communication planning should always include understanding audience and objective(s) (i.e., if your audience isn’t there, and it doesn’t meet an objective, why are you doing it?).

So, who is using Twitter in Nova Scotia, and for what? Using the N.S. election as an example, people, political parties, and media in Nova Scotia are using Twitter to talk about election issues. One need only do a quick search of #nselection or #nsdebate to see this. But what percent of Nova Scotians are using Twitter? And, in the context of the election, are these ‘Twitterers’ decided or undecided voters (or even voters at all)? Do they represent the views of the population or only the perspectives of a few? Political parties using Twitter as part of the election could benefit from answering these types of questions.

Equally important, why are parties using Twitter? To share information? To gain support? Consider, for example, that many commentators believe that U.S. President Barack Obama’s use of social networks, e-mails, texts, and videos played a major role in his presidential victory. What’s key is that Obama recognized the power of social media to share and extend relationships and began cultivating those relationships years before he won his campaign.

In Nova Scotia, the political parties’ presence on Twitter appears to have started largely around the time the election was called on May 5 – hardly enough time to cultivate the relationships needed through this medium. The PC party sent their first tweet on May 12; the NDP on May 4; and the Liberals almost three months before on February 21.
 

Who’s following? Who’s being followed? (as of June 4)

Party	Following	Followers
NS Progressive Conservative	97	81
NS NDP	399	594
NS Liberals	137	350

Social media specialists such as Solis and Breakenridge contend that successful use of social media cannot be a one-off campaign strategy; rather social media is about long-term relationship building. It involves listening, participating and sharing in meaning-making. 

Following this argument, I believe Twitter represents an opportunity for Nova Scotians to engage with parties and for parties to engage with Nova Scotians… if Nova Scotians are following the feeds and if political leaders are interested in engaging with Nova Scotians who are online. For example, can Twitter facilitate a better understanding of, and participation in, democracy through the sharing of ideas? Does its brevity and portability make campaign issues easier to follow and/or to participate in?

While those who don’t ‘get’ Twitter (or see its sharing and engagement potential) may argue ‘so what?’ when it comes to Twitter’s value in the election, I think the real question is ‘now what?’ What will happen now that it is being used, and how will it continue to be used?

I am not a political buff. Rather I have been following the political parties’ use of Twitter because my interest lies in how Twitter, and social media, can be used to support relationship building, whether it’s between or among organizations and individuals.

While social media use seems to be in its infancy here, if the U.S. trends are any indication, its popularity will grow. I think the presence of Twitter within the election is an example of how social media could be used to support relationship-building between politicians and Nova Scotians (or organizations and its publics). However, what remains critical to the equation is understanding who is participating in social media, what the nature of the conversation is, and how/if an organization can contribute to it in a meaningful way (for all those involved).