Reviewing the online efforts of politicians across Norfolk has been an interesting task, but ultimately quite depressing. By and large, Norfolk’s voters are poorly-served by the online presence of most candidates in the forthcoming election.

Apart from a few notable exceptions, the Conservatives are currently exploiting traditional websites and social media far better than the other parties. In several cases, Labour have selected PPCs, but haven’t even updated the central party website to provide any information, contact details or links. The Lib Dems meanwhile appear not to have reached the stage of selecting PPCs for several of the Norfolk constituencies.

It’s disappointing to see so little interest from our politicos in using the Net properly. As mentioned in the introductory article, a good online presence – incorporating social media – can reach out to a vast amount of potential supporters and voters. In an era of poor voter turnout, this is particularly relevant.

As several of the efforts reviewed here show, creating and using online methods doesn’t need to be expensive or especially time-consuming. Some of the strongest showings in the region have a obviously self-assembled quality about them, and are none the worse for that.

But some time and effort does need to be spent. The adoption of Twitter, Facebook and other bi-directional communication methods entails actually making the effort to enter regular and relevant updates. Several of the examples cited in these articles feature token – and seldom updated – social media presence.

It’s less than six months until the election – let’s see what our politicians do with their online approach in the interim. Overall, in the words of countless school reports throughout the decades, it’s a case of MUST TRY HARDER.

UPDATED 03/04/10 19:36: story published today in the EDP (p10), quoting me and mentioning this site. Also looks like someone else has been working on similar lines to myself, to document the local constituency candidates. Please check out http://norfolk-uk-politics.blogspot.com.

–cb2009