As the likes of Tau Henare and Trevor Mallard tweet their way through debates in the House, it raises the question what role will social media play in this country’s general election in November.

As New Zealand edges towards the big day, experiences in another country suggest social media may not play the pivotal role its advocates believe.

In Scotland, where campaigning has just finished, Jenny Stanning, head of press for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, has warned that the political machine’s obsession with social media may come at a cost. www.scotlandvotes.com 

She states that “while social media is important....time spent uploading pictures to twitter, blogging or fiddling with Skype clips shouldn’t come at the expense of good old fashioned briefing, door knocking and delivering”.

Stanning describes herself as a “self-confessed technophobe”, who has only just purchased a smart phone. However, with journalists regularly relaying teasers about stories and scandals on Twitter, Stanning readily admits she’s now a full-on addict.

But she’s quickly discovered that modern technology is no match for the far flung corners of Scotland where the word broadband is a foreign language – so be warned those MPs venturing to the likes of the West Coast.

In Scotland, anecdotally at least, Stanning says there have been more hustings than ever before as party spokespeople and candidates ‘lock horns’ all over the country. 

That suggests politicians pressing the flesh will remain a key element in any successful political campaign.

Her warning that there’s no substitute for candidates and teams hitting the streets, knocking on doors and dealing directly with voters may be a tough pill to swallow for some of our Twitter-obsessed MPs.

Our own experiences reinforce this theory. While social media is a useful tool for getting your message across to various audiences, particularly influencers, it should not be seen as a replacement for direct communication with voters.