So, was that the first internet election?

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

As I wrote in last month’s Progress magazine, from September to May it was impossible to escape the notion that somehow the internet was going to play a significant role in the campaign and the election outcome – though frankly no one could quite tell you exactly how or why. Journalists in the traditional media, in particular, seemed obsessed with the idea that this was going to be the first internet election, the first digital election, the first Facebook or Twitter or Mumsnet election. It gave them a handy sub-narrative to the election and campaign.

Of course, it never quite worked out that way. While the web undoubtedly played a role, and we saw thousands of activists connecting with each other online unleashed to the streets to connect with voters in the real world, most people would agree that we may have to wait another few years for that elusive “first web election”, or at least for one in which the web is seen as decisive.

But there’s still a lot of interest in how the internet played a role, and how it will continue to play a role in the future, and in new institutions that will shape the fightback in our next campaigns, in the leadership election, etc.

Social media platform Yoosk crowd sourced a load of good questions on this topic recently, and kindly asked me my thoughts on some of them, alongside Mark Pack from Lib Dem Voice and James Evans form Hustings.com. Our answers, if you’re interested in this sort of stuff, are below.

* Was the 2010 general election an internet election?

* Which website, blogs or twitterers made the biggest contribution to the debate?

Has the internet killed the election poster?

* Does the fact that two candidates were rapidly deselected following ill-conceived tweets or online comments show that it’s unrealistic to expect truly open, honest and informal dialogue online?

* The majority of Labour candidates did not even have any online donation facilities, let alone use them to their full potential. Why do you think this side of fundraising gets such short shrift and what lessons could candidates learn from the ever-praised Obama campaign?

* Looking back at LabourList’s election content and campaign, if you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?

Related posts:

1. How will the internet affect the general election?
2. Labour’s legacy, the internet election: You ask, they answer
3. Forget The Sun – we can move our underdog campaign to the internet
4. The co-operative model offers governance for the internet age
5. Internet equality will never compensate for the stereotypes that poison our debate