Vote 2010: the tools of the new media election
Updated on 07 April 2010
Long before Gordon Brown kicked off the race for Number 10 with the opening cry "now all of us, let's go to it", the internet was awash with election chatter.
A new route from the people to the politics has been carved by Twitter, Facebook and live blogs, leading the media to rebrand the 2010 election as the "new media election".
But sift through the political spin doctors, commentators and journalists, and there is a barrage of helpful information and tools for today's voter that confirms 2010 as the year of the new media election.
Start with registering to vote – if you have not already. You have until 20 April to register, and can download and print off a personalised voter registration form at here.
For more details on democracy and your vote, head to The Electoral Commission - it is an independent body set up by parliament that sets the standards for running elections.
If you are a gambler, you can bet on your forthcoming vote. All the big bookies are running online bets – there is a round up of all the bets available here.
You might want to check out the predictions in the polls first.
Pollsters: Facts and figures
If you are a pollster cynic and refuse to believe what the papers say, check out the sources. UK Polling Report and the Electoral Calculus both draw in all the latest polls of voting intentions and blog on the results. The latter has various online bells and whistles including lists of vulnerable seats, dynamic maps, timelines and historical data.
Meanwhile, pollster Ipsos MORI - which conducted yesterday's poll for The Sun showing a four point Tory lead over Labour - has a general election centre which has been running polls for every general election since 1979.
YouGov - the group behind yesterday's survey for The Guardian that showed a 10-point Tory lead - also has a live leaderboard charting the rise and demise of topics, tracking the score and the volume of public feeling.
Gordon Brown attracted the most interest at last count, but obviously of the wrong kind - his score is dropping. Katie Price is currently drawing in more interest than the general election itself, and Nick Clegg.
Official websites
Higher up the food chain, parliament's official website has the latest on the wash-up: charting which final bills are being dealt with before parliament is formally dissolved on Monday 12 April.
The Prime Minister's official office website is also worth keeping an eye on. It is flagging up a "people's PMQ" which will follow the last Prime Minister's Questions session and be conducted over email and twitter.
Ask your question here or with the hashtag #askgb on Twitter. In a clear nod to the value of online presence, Number 10 is promising answers today.
The parties themselves have gone viral, with emails and YouTube speeches the tip of the iceberg.
Parties online
Needless to say, all the parties have their own websites - which can be found here: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Green Party, UKIP and the BNP.
David Cameron has a weekly email that seems technologically tame in the face of the official Tory iPhone app. Launched in February, it delivers up to the minute newsbites from the Conservative headquarters. For a meatier briefing, there is the regularly updated Blue Blog.
Finally, you can air your political allegiance to all your contacts by becoming a Tory fan on Facebook. If that fails to alert the masses, buy a T-shirt or a fridge magnet, or a mug with 'Tea for Change' emblazoned across the front from the online shop.
There are even babygrows with 'Future Prime Minister' written across the chest for £14.99. And you get a free diary with every order.
Then of course there is access to all the serious stuff - manifestos, news, causes - and not forgetting a 'how to donate' online box.
Voters can peruse photos of all the parties’ campaign trails on flickr and you can follow the parties – plus many individual MPs – on Twitter.
Not to be outdone by the Tories, Labour were slightly slower off the mark with the Labour iPhone app and their Red Pocket Diary is less of a bargain at £7.50. They have run out of mugs promising a 'Future Fair for All', but there are badges and postcards aplenty.
Inside the campaign, they too have a blog, with regular updates from the Labour camp posted here.
At a last count, Labour had 11,195 fans on Facebook and among the swathes of policy information, visions and pledges on its website, the party appeals for people offer small donations in order to "Give to win".
In much the same vein, the Liberal Democrats website has MP election diaries and weekly email newsletters, alongside donation buttons, volunteer appeals and points to Facebook and Twitter.
Extra, extra, read more about it
If websites and blogs are too Old School for you, head to Tweetminster for a definitive list of the MPs who are on Twitter. What are they saying, who are they following, and who's following them?
Tweetminster touts itself as a sentiment tracker "where real life and politics tweet" - it is full of interesting factoids and has just kicked off Tweetminster Predicts, an experiment that will attempt to study the correlation between Twitter mentions and election results.
Facebook changed the face of the US election and has just launched a special page with information from each political party. Democracy UK has 12,406 fans already and joins countless unofficial Facebook groups firing up for the big day – including the unofficial 'General Election' event page which so far only has 16 confirmed guests. Let's hope the Obama effect takes hold soon.
Meanwhile there are reams of online commentary from political pundits, hacks and spin doctors. We like Guido Fawkes and Left Foot Forward among others.
Indeed, the Channel 4 News team sort through all the best commentary so you do not have to – we then publish it on our live blog and retweet it on our twitter feeds @channel4news, @C4NWestminster and @C4election.
For minute-to-minute coverage the C4 election team @C4election will be tracking every move on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, in depth analysis on party leaders can be found on our Who knows who pages and the latest blogs from our team, including Jon Snow, Gary Gibbon and Faisal Islam.
If nothing else convinces the electorate that 2010 is the first new media election, then perhaps this will: Jon Snow – the face of Channel 4 since 1989, who reported on his first election in 1974 – is now on Twitter.
