With the Nova Scotia provincial election campaign underway, the public is being bombarded with political messages from candidates.
However, in this day and age, it is no longer just TV ads and signs on the front lawn competing for attention. Candidates are now turning to social media to advertise their platforms.
“It is part of the toolbox of different ways to communicate with people and people are actively able to ask us questions and we’re able to respond in real time,” says Jennifer Edge, the director of communications for Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative party.
Sometimes, those responses can spark discussions.
“There’s lots of debate that happens in coffee shops across the province, in Tim Hortons and social media, it is exactly the same” says Edge. “It’s just one other mode to have some intelligent conversation about this election and the leadership of the parties.”
Often, those conversations can get a little heated, something the parties aren’t shying away from.
“That’s political debate,” says Nova Scotia NDP president David Wallbridge. “You advance your ideas and you consider the other ideas and if you disagree with them, then you put out what you’re disagreements are. So, that’s just healthy debate in democracy.”
“When you’re willing to directly engage with a person as a politician and say what are your concerns and then if it turns out that that person has something in common with the politician they didn’t know before, well they’re going to remember that and you know, it can encourage you to go vote,” says Chris Salsman, a social media strategist for the Nova Scotia Liberals.
Social media experts say users typically want to connect with the candidate, not the team, so it is important for party leaders to compose their own messages.
“Social media users will realize and see whether it is the team that’s tweeting, or the actual candidate tweeting,” says social media professor Anatoliy Gruzd. “One of the advantages of having a candidate using social media is that you have direct access to that person.”
Gruzd also says it is important that if the team or the candidate does make a mistake when delivering their social media message, that they don’t delete it and rather post a correction to avoid any confusion.
“They think that nobody saw it because it was only one second ago,” says Gruzd. “The truth is, social media messages spread very fast and even if you posted it a second ago, there could be thousands, even millions, of people who got that message.”
A message the political parties will be working hard to promote on the campaign trail.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Ritcey
