Smart politicians use Twitter to converse with constituents

The days are counting down until election day, and with a campaign as short and as sharp as this one, every launch, every interview, every photo in front of a pothole is crucial for those hoping to emerge, victorious, at the other end.

One arena where politicians and their press teams have been trying to shape the national conversation is on Twitter, with good reason. The platform is disproportionately used by a younger audience, who can be difficult to reach through traditional channels. And, since journalists are among the platform’s most avid users, a particularly effective tweet might get picked up in the pages.

Twitter is also immediate: Within a few seconds of an event, any politician armed with a smartphone and 4G can tell the world what they think. Of course, the price of this is often chaos — jokes, insults, and selfies with goats are mixed up with serious commentary — but that’s a price most politicians are willing to pay for a platform and audience. Indeed, some are using this chaos to their advantage.