When it comes to social media, there's no doubt there are some mayors who have it figured out - you only have to follow "@MayorGregor" on Twitter to see how a municipal mayor can indeed use social media to reach out to voters and residents.
But the example set by Gregor Robertson in Vancouver isn't being followed here in Burnaby.
"I think you're seeing an intergenerational difference," is how Peter Chow-White, a social media expert and professor of communications at SFU, puts it.
Whether it's their age or other factors at work, our four mayoral candidates have a decidedly low profile in the social media world - which is to say, they're all but absent.
To get a sense of how visible the four candidates - incumbent Derek Corrigan and challengers Sylvia Gung, Allen Hutton and Tom Tao - are, I did searches via Google, Facebook and Twitter to track down the candidates.
Not surprisingly, Corrigan is an easy man to find online, given his already high public profile and frequent coverage in a wide range of media. He's also the only one of the four I could find on Facebook, and, with 651 friends, he's maintaining a fairly good profile there.
However, the vast majority of the posts on his profile are actually other people tagging him - as opposed to him actually posting information or links. (A caveat: As of the moment of this writing, he hasn't accepted my friend request, so there may be other activity that I can not see.)
Both Corrigan and Tao, thanks to their party affiliations, also have a web presence through their respective party websites - www.burnabycitizens.ca for Corrigan, and www.teamburnaby.com for Tao.
As individuals, however, they do not have websites, and Tao has only an old blog from a previous candidacy for council.
None of the four is on Twitter.
Which pretty much means that whatever makes the difference in the mayoral race on election day, it won't be social media that decides the outcome.
A quick overview:
DEREK CORRIGAN
Facebook: Yes. 651 friends (hasn't accepted my friend request yet)
Twitter: No
Website/blog: No personal website, but linked through www.burnabycitizens.ca
Web presence: Highly visible, thanks to his frequent coverage in media and his already high public profile.
If you are a voter looking to connect with this candidate online, can you?
Yes.
SYLVIA GUNG
Facebook: No
Twitter: No
Website/blog: None found.
Web presence: Minor, largely appearing in articles about who is running for council and an occasional letter to the editor.
If you are a voter looking to connect with this candidate online, can you?
No.
ALLEN HUTTON
Facebook: No
Twitter: No
Website/blog: None found.
Web presence: Moderate, thanks to his involvement in the community on boards and associations.
If you are a voter looking to connect with this candidate online, can you?
No.
TOM TAO
Facebook: No
Twitter: No
Website/blog: An old blog from a previous independent candidacy for council (http://tomtao.com/wordpress/). Currently linked through the TEAM Burnaby website at www.teamburnaby.com.
Web presence: Moderate, thanks to coverage from previous council runs and a now more visible presence through TEAM.
If you are a voter looking to connect with this candidate online, can you?
Yes.
NOTE: All information current as of Monday, Nov. 7. Due to the nature of social media, it may have changed by press time. To comment on this story, visit Julie MacLellan's blog - use the link off the home page, or check under the Opinion tab.
