Last updated: April 12, 2011 4:28 pm
Michael Chu — Canadian University Press
TORONTO (CUP) — Are you ready for the federal election? Have you familiarized yourself with each political party’s platform?
Most likely you haven’t, and you’re not alone. Canadians — especially younger ones — are avoiding any mention of the election, and more are not voting at all.
After the 2008 federal election, Elections Canada reported that only 37.4 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 24 reported they had voted, compared to 65.6 per cent of Canadians aged 55 to 64. Similar voter turnout also occurred among Canadians aged 65 and older.
But Harper, Ignatieff, May, Layton and Duceppe, are hoping to change that.
All the major parties are doing something they haven’t attempted to do in the past — use social media — to reach young voters.
Take a look at how effective the grassroots Obama campaign was thanks to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Now each political party in Canada is hoping to mimic Obama’s success.
The only question is, will it work?
What made Obama’s campaign so effective was its “Yes We Can” slogan — simple and empowering, yet carrying personal resonance.
Ignatieff has made some headway with the catchy “No Fear Here” slogan, chanted by students at St. Lawrence College during his recent visit to the Kingston, Ont.-area institution.
But the question remains, have party leaders efficiently used social media to truly engage post-secondary students to take the step and vote?
Zachary Dayler, national director for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, understands the invaluable potential for social media, but feels that more can be done to engage Canadian students.
“From what I have observed, Twitter is a raw and immediate form of putting ideas out into the world en masse,” Dayler said. “I have seen very little communication directly with Canadians.”
Add to the fact that most of the tweets seem forced, and one-dimensional — the antithesis of Twitter’s purpose.
“I might suggest none of the leaders are actually tweeting,” Dayler speculated.
Communications managers and directors of each respective campaign most likely handle a Twitter account as a component to their overall strategy.
Annette Lawrence, a student at Ryerson University and an avid Twitter user, follows the leaders of the parties impacting her riding of Ajax-Pickering.
“I wanted to be updated what was going on in the elections in real-time,” Lawrence said.
But she doesn’t feel the parties are properly using the social media tool.
“They should be re-tweeting someone’s concern and responding to it. They are using it as an announcement board.”
“Twitter is one piece in the larger challenge of communicating with a new generation of Canadians,” Dayler added. “A generation that I think is thirsty for someone to talk to us.”
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