The process of the political parties embracing digital media for their campaigns has been a bit stop-and-start in the UK, with smaller parties like UKIP arguably finding their feet in the cyberworld must quicker than the big fish.
Since becoming Tory party chairman, Grant Shapps – who famously has a background in SEO - has been using digital in the only way that works: by dissipating inventive original content on a consistent basis.
Infographics seem to have been the Tory digital weapon of choice, and Labour haven't yet quite stepped up to the mark.
Until now:
Labour has used online video before, of course – party leaders speaking to camera, interviews with party members ‘on the ground,’ and standard party political broadcast-style short films. But what made Labour’s latest video so special is that it wasn’t just getting shares from the usual party members.
Partly because of the familiar ‘Facebook movie’ theme, ‘David Cameron’s Facebook Movie’ has been getting shares across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks as a piece of funny, original content, that genuinely appeals to people in its own right.
Perhaps the success of this video will prompt more political videos to focus on familiar themes to drive social sharing, and include fewer talking heads speaking about policy.
We will have to wait and see.
