We all know it’s the marginals that really matter. It’s just that party leaders aren’t usually quite this transparent about that fact. You only need to check our Election Tracker to see where the candidates have clocked up the ks, and why. But the political candidates’ care factor (or lack thereof) is also evident in their approach to social media.

More than 10 million Australians use social media in some form at least once a month. That’s nearly half the country. Yet neither Gillard nor Abbott are talking to people properly on these platforms. Why? It’s not worth the time, the effort, or the potential faux pas. Both candidates have been playing it safe, so why update your Facebook page when you can fillet a fish for guaranteed gold coverage on the evening news that night?

Newsflash: a big chunk of the electorate doesn’t watch the evening news any more. They don’t read the paper, and they don’t listen to the wireless.

They sit online. They’re plugged into Facebook and Twitter 24/7, and contrary to popular opinion, they’re not talking about their breakfast. This is how they get their news. And more importantly, it’s how they share their news.

We’re attempting to drag this election campaign into the 21st century. And what better way to do that than with a bad Twitter pun? Introducing the latest component of Crikey‘s election coverage: our new Twacker. Yes, we’re going there:

twacker

Include the hashtag #ausvotes when you tweet about the election, just like you always do, but this time, ADD YOUR POSTCODE. Designed by those upstarts at Upstart, this map should help us get a glimpse of who’s tweeting about the election, and where. And the more local the insight, the better.

Let’s see if we can drag this campaign trail off the beaten path, past those key electorate boundaries and remind the candidates, with two weeks to go ’til D-Day:  hey, remember us?