My theory is this suggests that he made great inroads into the Democrat activist consciousness and has built on that since.

This theory seems to be supported by the Joe Lieberman election where the blogging team got him “deselected” in the primary but he still went on to win the full election.

I haven’t read the Trippi book – maybe I will and will change my mind (though I am inclined to think he would claim to have changed the world

It’s that area – activist engagments (and recruitment) where I think blogs etc can have a big impact.

It is also possibly a way of making an impact with younger voters – though it seems popular in more areas than others. Not many people on FB at Huddersfield for example. RE LSE is the number of FB friends that indicate election winners – or is it that people with the most friends have always won LSE elections but now you can measure it

A wider impact is harder to see as – ultimately – it is the more interested/more supportive people who will get the best results.

The other factor, which I touched on above, is that engagement via Facebook requires more than setting up an account but actually to engage with the people who then sign up to it.

I’ve no doubt that Steve is very good at this because that approach runs through a lot of stuff he’s done throughout his time as an MP (and before) – and it’s one reason why I rate him very highly.

However if other MPs follow through their approach (at least in my experience) of not responding to blog posts or even emails I don’t see why they will make an impact with Facebook.

On this post – counting up the number of MPs each party has on facebook is somewhat interesting, but it doesn’t say nearly as much as counting up the numbers of friends each MP has, or the number of wall postings. If you could pass across those MP lists & URLs, Steve, I’d gladly put that together.

On the subject of facebook & unstrategic strategy: Take a look at the 8th & 9th of August on the main facebook ‘Liberal Democrats’ group ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209376493 ): 3 people trying to haul readers off to other sites/groups, & 1 bemoaning the lack of a modern Cyril Smith. The objective hardly feels thought-out & the effect feels very soft!

Any of the 3 parties would benefit from putting someone with some knowledge, vision & conviction in charge of their online campaign. I think about that every time I receive the horribly impersonal email bulletins from libdems.org.uk – complete with their claw-strutching facebook/myspace/youtube/flickr signatures!

Keep up the good work here on the blog – you’re leading the pack.

daniel

As you might expect, I’m much more upbeat than Hywel about the potential of these sites. For example, many Northavon late teens / early 20s are away at college most of the year, so they don’t see any local literature or any local media; Facebook/e-mail is about the only way I have of keeping in touch.

Re Howard Dean, it’s true he crashed and burned, but his campaign transformed the way politics is done in the US; it’s well worth reading Joe Trippi – the Revolution will not be Televised – which is really inspiring, notwithstanding the eventual outcome. What’s striking is not that an unknown governor from a small state didn’t win, but that he made the impact he did, right around the world.

The differential between LibDem MPs and non-LibDem MPs on facebook is promising, but simply being on there isn’t enough. It’s how each MP uses the site that matters.

I think Steve’s success at attracting 1,000 constituents to become his facebook friends is a useful example of what can be done. His ability to communicate quickly, easily and above all cheaply with them is incredibly valuable. That must surely enhance his ability to know the views of a good chunk of his constituents. Well done Steve.

What I’m really saying is that you can read too much into these things and for me personally getting as many friends as possible defeats the purpose of facebook, which is to keep in touch with friends, and instead just makes it into any other website (like myspace has become).

At this stage of the 2004 primary race all the talk was about Howard Dean was using the net to reach new voters and fundraising and it was going to change American politics. Ultimately he didn’t win a single state.

I’m sceptical about Facebook – I’m a friend of several MPs. However I never actually bother to look at what they’re saying.

From my experience, some of our leading MPs might be better advised in looking at why they don’t reply to emails.

I looked to see what is happening in the US and facebook is providing an enhanced service – we should study how this works in due course.

However, I was amazed at how many friends Barack Obhama has – over 122,000 and at least 3 times his nearest rival, clearly a lot to learn as we are in the infancy of usuing / undrstanding how this works and impacts people.

Including me!

Can we draw any conclusions from this?