KEY POINTS:
National Party leader John Key appears to be winning the battle of cyberspace, with almost three times the number of supporters on the same social networking site as Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Since beginning his Facebook page in mid-February, Mr Key had attracted 3261 supporters by Wednesday this week. In comparison, Helen Clark, whose page was initiated by a supporter six months ago, had gathered 1163.
Mr Key said he did not know whether the social networking site reflected current poll results, which place him ahead of the Prime Minister.
"There's no way of knowing whether one reflects the other, but we are obviously sensing a mood for change in New Zealand," he said.
Analysts have pointed to a growing role for internet-based communications strategies in political campaigns.
University of Canterbury political science and communication associate professor Jim Tully said social networking sites were becoming increasingly important as New Zealand elections had become more "presidential in style".
Placing an emphasis on leadership, Facebook and other social networking sites were a direct way of communicating with not only internet-savvy young people, but also the large number of New Zealanders overseas, he said.
The increased numbers of supporters on Mr Key's site was due to National realising the potential of the internet as an effective means of communication, and was not a reflection of poll results, Professor Tully said.
Mr Key said the potential of social networking sites such as Facebook was important.
"It's a thriving community, growing rapidly, and a lot of them are very interested in politics. We're reaching out to that group and hoping they may be interested in what we have to say."
A spokeswoman for Helen Clark said supporters "were keen to set up the site and the Prime Minister thought it was a good idea, particularly for communicating with younger people".
Helen Clark had no other social networking site and was "too busy" to check her Facebook site.
The reason Mr Key's supporters outnumbered Helen Clark's on Facebook was simple, her spokeswoman said.
"Her pages are maintained by supporters and volunteers, not by paid staff who are able to spend time recruiting others."
Mr Key confirmed one of his communication staff monitored his other social networking sites, including the video sharing website YouTube and the photo-sharing website Flickr.
Social networking sites "including Facebook are a great way of taking our message to Kiwis living overseas", he said.
More than 70 million people visited Facebook in April this year, and politicians were increasingly using the free-access site as a way to campaign.
Professor Tully said that a group from Canterbury University was researching the use of the internet during this year's general election.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
