Social media 'led BBC to report on Clegg reaction'

14:00 28th April 2010

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter give internet users the opportunity to quickly offer their opinions, which was seen recently in the public reaction to negative newspaper stories about Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

According to co-editor of political blog Liberal Democrat Voice Mark Pack, British newspapers are losing their ability to influence the views of the general public, reports Search Engine Watch.

He cited the online reaction to the leaders' debates on Twitter, where users praised Mr Clegg for his performance.

Many newspapers then ran negative stories about Mr Clegg, but Twitter users went online in their droves to use the hashtag #nickcleggsfault to post witty suggestions of what else he could possibly be to blame for.

Mr Pack points out that this social media reaction made mainstream media organisations such as BBC News report on how the general public had responded to the newspaper stories.

He said: "The size of the online expression of opinion in turn generated more reports, which in turn via traditional media took the protest to a much wider audience."

This comes after research found that the Facebook page of the Conservative Party is more effective than those of its political rivals.

Diffusion discovered that more than 23,000 people are connected to the Conservatives via Facebook, compared to around 7,000 each for the Liberal Democrats and Labour.