BC Business
bc liberal leadership candidatesNew media are changing the way elections are fought. Here's a look at how the BC Liberals stack up online.
The BC Liberal leadership race is taking place in a landscape where online influence is as important as offline activity. What does that mean for aspirants like Falcon, Abbott, de Jong, Stilwell (and Clark)? The impact of technology on the upcoming BC Liberal party leadership race promises to dramatically change the way political battles are won and lost.
bc liberal leadership candidatesNew media are changing the way elections are fought. Here’s a look at how the BC Liberals stack up online.
The impact of technology on the upcoming BC Liberal party leadership race promises to dramatically change the way political battles are won and lost.
During the provincial Liberals’ last leadership contest in 1993, most party members didn’t have email accounts, and the only Internet access found in homes across British Columbia, if any, was a slow dial-up connection. Online campaigning has taken centre stage since then, with the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign seeing online campaigning become as important as candidates’ offline activity.
According to The Atlantic, in February 2008 alone, the Obama campaign raised $55 million, $45 million of it coming from their online efforts.
In the 2010-11 BC Liberal leadership cycle, candidates must adapt to a landscape in which over 2 million British Columbians are active on Facebook, and news cycles are measured in seconds. Thanks to social networks like Twitter, stories can break and impact campaigns faster than was ever thought possible in the past.
Competing leadership campaign teams will be live-streaming their candidates’ events using smart phones from every corner of the province, and no public comment from any candidate will go unreported. The candidates and campaign teams who are best able to adapt to this during the 2011 provincial leadership race will have a distinct advantage.
With four candidates officially now in the race this week, we review where they stand in their online presence and online campaign efforts: [pagebreak]
Website: kevinfalcon.com
The MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale and former minister of health services is thought by many to be the front-runner among declared candidates for the premier’s job. He has been raising money and organizing support longer than any other candidate, and those efforts show in a well-designed, professional-looking website that links to profiles on social networks including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
His site also provides information on voting, signing up as a volunteer, and donating. The site succeeds in providing a clear call-to-action for those who want to get involved in the campaign. Users can donate to the campaign directly online using PayPal.
Twitter: twitter.com/kevinfalconFollowers: 1,139Following: 280
As a minister, Falcon wasn’t very active on Twitter and didn’t show much ability to engage users in an online dialogue. As a candidate for the premier’s job, he’s been using the site more regularly and his campaign team has effectively mirrored his Twitter feed on his campaign website.
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Falcon-BC-Liberal-Leadership-Candidate/122177854512897Likes: 180
His official leadership Facebook group was created November 30, 2010. It is innovative in its use of a “Twibbon,” which allows users to add a badge to their own profiles, showing their political support.
He loses points here for only having a handful (180) of Facebook supporters and not securing a personalized domain name.
Youtube: youtube.com/user/KevinFalconTV Subscribers: 2Channel Views: 239
Not much progress here – the official YouTube channel only has two videos and was last active over a year ago. The channel should at least feature a video of his Liberal leadership bid announcement. [pagebreak]
Website: georgeabbottforbc.ca
The MLA for Shuswap and former minister of education was one of the first candidates to officially declare his leadership intentions. His website is very simple (some might say boring) from a design perspective, but supports volunteer sign-up and has lots of good content. However, his online donation form could have come straight from the 1993 leadership race; supporters are asked to fill in a form so they can be called back by phone! Abbott has an online newsroom, but it has no multimedia content, nor does it have a way to share stories on social networking sites.
Abbott scores some points for having prominent links on his site redirecting users to his presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Twitter: twitter.com/georgeabbott4bcFollowers: 449Following: 941
He’s been actively tweeting since joining the leadership race, and the account features messages from both Abbott himself and from the campaign team.
Facebook: facebook.com/georgeabbottmlaLikes: 277
The Abbott campaign team has used Facebook fairly effectively in week one; their efforts included posting videos, images, and links to new stories in their newsfeed. They’ve also secured a relevant domain name on Facebook.
He’s no Barack Obama, but he’s so far got the Facebook lead on Kevin Falcon.
Youtube: youtube.com/user/GeorgeAbbottforBCSubscribers: 1Channel Views: 190
Abbott’s YouTube channel was created November 18, 2010 and doesn’t have much content yet – other than his leadership announcement video. [pagebreak]
Website: mikedejong.com
Good news: de Jong’s website is well-designed and professional. The site links to his presence on all major social networks (and he’s the only candidate using Flickr to share photos – so far), and his Twitter feed is mirrored on the front page. He also has an introductory video on his site calling on supporters to get engaged in a debate about the province’s future.
Bad news: his site doesn’t allow for donations online, instead asking supporters to mail in their contributions.
Twitter: twitter.com/mike_de_jongFollowers: 91Following: 159
De Jong’s Twitter account was only just launched so, while it was active at kickoff, it’s hard to assess it yet.
He wasn’t actively using social media to connect with supporters prior to the leadership race. This void allowed someone to create a @FakeMikedeJong account on Twitter that has over 1,600 followers compared to the 159 following his real account. It also means de Jong is starting from scratch with little pre-existing support online.
Facebook: facebook.com/mikedejong.bcLikes: 141
The most notable thing about de Jong’s Facebook presence is that it inadvertently launched his campaign one day early. According to a story from the Vancouver Sun’s Gillian Shaw, an overenthusiastic supporter launched the leadership campaign’s Facebook page in the evening, just prior to the official public announcement.
Youtube: youtube.com/user/mikedejongteamSubscribers: 3Channel Views: 364
The campaign team launched their YouTube channel on the day of his announcement, and already have four videos uploaded. It’s a good start at providing content, but it has yet to drawn in many viewers.
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Website: https://moirastilwell.ca
The MLA for Vancouver-Langara and former minister of regional economic and skills development surprised many by being the first candidate to throw her hat in the ring to replace Premier Campbell. With the early lead you would expect her to have a well-developed campaign website – but you would be wrong.
So far she has no official campaign website. She is still using her BC Liberal website, which was up and running prior to the leadership race. It has no links to her presence on social networks like Facebook or Twitter.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrMoiraStilwellFollowers: 240Following: 67
Dr. Stilwell does get points for being active on Twitter prior to the leadership race and for authenticity. She is so far authoring all of her posts.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moira-StilwellLikes: 156
Dr. Stillwell did have an active Facebook account with frequent updates, but on December 2 it seemed to have been temporarily taken offline.
Website: christyclark.ca and draftchristyclark.ca
No assessment of the state of the provincial Liberal leadership race would be complete without a look at Christy Clark.
The former deputy premier and current CKNW radio host has said she is taking the week to consider her options and will announce shortly if she is entering the race. As someone who is not yet an official candidate, she doesn’t have an official campaign site, but does have a substantial online following that she could mobilize and grow if she enters the race.
The “Draft Christy Clark” website that has been set up by her supporters uses Facebook connections effectively and has an area that allows volunteers to sign up for the possibly forthcoming campaign.
Twitter : twitter.com/christyclarkbc Followers: 1, 092Following: 799
Clark has been active on Twitter and has a solid base of followers.
Facebook: facebook.com/DraftChristyLikes: 806
Even before entering the race, Clark has more than double the number of Facebook fans of any of the declared leadership candidates.
YouTube: youtube.com/christyclarkbcSubscribers: 15Views: 1,005
Clark has a pre-existing YouTube channel with just over 1,000 views. It includes some content from her time as a host on CKNW, footage that could be leveraged if and when she decides to enter the race.
On the downside, Clark could potentially face the challenge of defending positions she took in old radio content that is still online.
Overall, at this early stage, it appears that no single candidate has an overwhelming online lead. Falcon is better-positioned than most, but could be quickly overtaken by several of the other contenders. Clark also has a solid base to build upon, and that would make her a strong contender if she entered the race.
With less than three months until the party’s leadership vote, each campaign will need to move quickly to gain momentum online. Every candidate must adapt to this vastly different digital environment – times and technologies have changed since the last provincial leadership race.
David Brodie is a consultant with Optimum Public Relations in Vancouver and is a former political advisor to numerous federal and provincial politicians. As National Director of Operations on the Paul Martin leadership campaign, David led online campaign and fundraising efforts and helped establish Canada’s first Prime Ministerial blog. He advises clients on public relations and the use of social media in marketing, advocacy and education campaigns.