#UKelection2010, mainstream media and the role of the internet: How social and digital media affected the business of politics and journalism

The 2010 UK election was billed as the internet election, the social media election. From Twitter to Facebook, through viral crowdsourced ads, sentiment tracking and internet polling, technology appeared to offer political parties and mainstream media organisations powerful new ways to engage voters and audiences. This paper argues that the 2010 election did mark another significant milestone in the onward march of the internet, with unprecedented levels of participation and new techniques providing extra layers of information, context and real-time feedback, which complemented and enriched more traditional forms of media. There are six core conclusions from this study which should be noted by politicians and media practitioners alike