Social media will motivate people to express political ideas but won't change voters minds, SMW London panel states
Social media will not win the next election, a panel at Social Media Week London has ruled, with the indyref result being held up as the proof.
James Morris, vice president and London director of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, said of the theory that social would decide the winner "there is no way that you can say 'this is the thing that won the election'. Social media will help decide the next election, but so will hundreds of other things."
He was speaking on a panel moderated by Adam Mack, EMEA chief strategy officer at Weber Shandwick, with MP Tom Brake and Sky News head of social Richard Evans; which examined how digital affected politics.
For Brake, who was the first MP to host a Facebook surgery, social allows polititians to reach the young people who can not be reached through the traditional channels.
He suggested that social is a good way to deliver political messages, while being financially sensible.
However, Morris stated that social may not be the best platform for changing the opinions of potential voter. "Online should be used to motivate people who already vote your way [to share their opinions], more than to persuade," he said.
For him, Twitter is a channel to interact with very engaged people, but Facebook is best for connecting, using the drill-down option to buy ads to target your market.
"The Conservatives spend a fortune on Facebook buying targeted ads...and that is very powerful."
He added that this is also in part to do with advertising regulations, pointing out that while political parties have restrictions on TV ads, they can run "as many pre-roll ads as they can buy".
But in order to gain success, the political campaign needs to be discussed - something which Evans, from Sky News, pointed out does not always take place.
"If the existing issues aren't being talked about on Twitter, maybe you should change the issues. See what the public want to ask and discuss."
Evans referenced the Yes campaign from the independence referendum as an example of good social content, praising its substance and how it "snowballed".
Morris agreed, saying that although the Yes vote lost the election, the campaign it ran was the winner.