Last week, I wrote about how the McDonnell and Deeds campaigns were using Twitter to cover the debate. I was disappointed with the way the two campaigns were using the technology, as they were basically posting insults rather than providing information to the online followers. However, their use of Facebook is much different.

For starters, one must understand the difference between Twitter and Facebook. With Twitter, an individual is able to send only a short statement due to a character limit for each post. On the other hand, Facebook is a larger community platform. This allows the user to create numerous posts, upload pictures and photos, as well as converse directly with those who follow that persons’ account. In other words, it is similar to a blog (without all the hassle).

To become familiar with the two campaigns’ use of the service, I first had to join, or “follow,” the candidates on their community pages. As a follower, I receive status updates on the activity on their pages right on my main page. So when one of the candidates post a new comment, article, or video, I am notified of the new content.

The way the two campaigns and their followers use their pages varies greatly. The McDonnell camp posts new material at least once per day, usually informing the followers about the recent endorsements McDonnell has received or new videos coming out from the campaign office. As of today, there are over 19,000 followers who actively comment on the daily content. The Deeds camp posts new material just a few times a week. There are only 11,000 followers (8,000 less than McDonnell), but they are more active on Deeds community site – posting new commentary on the campaign as well as encouragement for the Democratic candidate.

Does a more active online crowd lead to greater voter turnout? How about the candidate with the more followers? I’m not sure, but it will be interesting to see how the activity on Facebook correlates with the eventual outcome of the campaign. But for now, I do see that Facebook is the better system (compared to Twitter) to follow if you are looking for actual information that pertains to the candidates.

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