Montreal-area Liberal candidate Denis Coderre has engaged more with voters on Twitter than any other candidate this federal election.
According to an analysis by PoliTwitter.ca, as of this afternoon Coderre had directly replied or referred to individuals 1392 times during the campaign. Coderre, the incumbent for the riding of Bourassa, has more than 27,000 followers on the social-networking site.
Coderre was happy to hear that he was the most Twitter-engaged candidate across Canada, though he said that it is not a goal he shoots for.
Coderre said that social media is a valuable tool for reaching voters. “I think that social networks are kind of an antidote to cynicism,” he said.
“There’s a lot of cynicism about politics and politicians but frankly that social network helps to understand better that hey, you have human beings too.”
Despite a busy schedule, Coderre does all of his own tweeting. “If it’s not coming from you, why bother?” he said. He estimates that between his Twitter and his Facebook followers, about 32,000 people see his messages, whether they be about the election or about the Habs game. “It’s a win-win for everybody,” he said.
Engagement was measured by adding together the number of times a candidate referenced another Twitter user, the number of times they replied directly to an ordinary voter, and the number of times they replied directly to members of the media or other candidates. The above chart updates daily, so results may change over the course of the campaign.
But there can be a downside to so much activity. Kitchener Centre Conservative candidate Stephen Woodworth, is second on the list but Woodworth’s Twitter account was recently shut down after a joke he posted drew controversy. His campaign was contacted for comment but a response was not received by deadline.
At number three is another Conservative, Daryl Kramp, and number four is a Liberal, Stephen Randall.
Snagging a spot at number five on the list is Green Party candidate Michael Dewar. Dewar began tweeting after an instructor at a campaign training session suggested it was a good idea. Since then, he’s tweeted whenever he has a spare moment.
“I feel like I’m actually accomplishing something,” said Dewar.
“All of a sudden people were asking questions about my policy, asking questions about Green Party policy, questions about what I thought of the leaders’ debates and the fact that Elizabeth May was being kept out of the national debates and so on.” He said that Twitter is a great way to respond quickly.
The top tweeters among NDP candidates are Alexandre Boulerice and Marc Laferriere, tied for 7th place. Laferriere, who is campaigning in the riding of Brant, Ontario, said that despite being a largely rural area, his riding is very engaged in social media. He estimates that 60 percent of his volunteers joined his campaign after first interacting with him through social media.
“Somebody once said to a bank robber, why do you rob banks? And he said, that’s where the money is. Why do you tweet? Because that’s where the people are.” Through Twitter, said Laferriere, “(Voters) get to see who’s actually interested in engagement.”
He cautions though that social media engagement cannot replace traditional campaign activities like knocking on doors. He was interviewed for this story between houses on the campaign trail.
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