Many mayoral candidates are leaning heavily on tech. Here, Rocco Rossi and his team canvass with the help of an iPad.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
When you Google "George Smitherman," the first sponsored link that pops up urges you to "Choose the Right Mayor." But it's not an ad for the former deputy premier.
It's a plug for Rocco Rossi, whose campaign has cast an online advertising net so wide that if you Google any of the 26 contenders, his pitch almost always appears.
Toronto's 2010 election is shaping up to be a grand experiment in digital and social-media innovation.
"The real proof is going to be how well each of these candidates are able to convert their social-media followings," said Jen Evans, a digital strategist and chief executive officer of Sequentia Environics. "I think this will be probably be the first [Canadian]example of a clear link between social media and [getting]out the vote."
Candidates are testing a slew of technologies and tactics that are new to Canadian campaigns: iPhone and iPad applications; virtual and telephone town halls; text-messaging drives; "Tweetups"; and geolocation tools such as Foursquare, which empower candidates to broadcast their every step.
But do tweets twanslate into votes? The technology is so fresh, there is almost no way to tell yet.
In a city full of early adopters - Toronto was the first metropolis to surpass a million Facebook users - this race is a near-perfect laboratory for a virtual campaign. Its $1.2-million spending cap forces the camps to lean on low-cost methods. It's also long enough to allow for trial and error, much like the U.S. presidential race to which its web literacy - and the first to host "tele-town halls."
"It's actually been the thing that I'm most happy about on the whole campaign," said Fraser Macdonald, the Etobicoke councillor's press secretary. "The technology allows us to connect Rob with far more people than we would be able to otherwise."
The Ford campaign has hosted four tele-town halls in Scarborough. The technology first places robo-calls to every landline in the area, asking residents to press a button to participate in a call-in radio show starring Mr. Ford. In this virtual Potemkin village, screeners vet callers' questions, and the Ford camp claims between 5,000 and 7,000 people have taken part in each event so far. They plan to dial every home in Toronto.
The Smitherman camp has also made social-media strides since its campaign's dismal start, when it was derided for its "temporary website" and lame Twitter presence. As of Friday, the campaign's official Twitter feed had 1,457 followers to Mr. Rossi's 1,315. Smitherman spokesman Stefan Baranski said their iPhone app is in the pipeline, as is a social-media community exclusively for volunteers and a "Tweetup" - a live event to share policy ideas and spread the conversation to the Twitterverse.
Joe Pantalone and Giorgio Mammoliti have the smallest social-media footprints at the moment, while Sarah Thomson is fully engaged and making a splash as the queen of Foursquare.
"It's one of the darlings in the space," Ms. Evans said of the location-based social networking site. "That's a pretty advanced way of using the technology."
Such advanced methods can be double-edged swords for campaigns that are always struggling to stay on message. Imposter Twitter feeds, such as @RobFordAngry are constantly spreading mischief. ( Sample tweet: "Sorry for the silence, I got stuck inside that new 25 cent pay toilet. It's accessible for most, but couldn't fit my INDIGNANT RAGE!")
Mr. Ford's camp had to swing into damage-control mode after a volunteer with access to their official Twitter feed re-tweeted a message supporting Mr. Ford's controversial 2006 comments about gays and AIDS. The Smitherman campaign pounced and within hours the offending re-tweeter had been booted from Mr. Ford's social-media team.
"What goes out on social media now is as good as a press release," Mr. Baranski said.
The big question remains whether all this virtual activity has any impact in the real world.
In Mr. Rossi's case, a strong digital and social media campaign hasn't translated into a bump in the polls.
"You wouldn't expect it to yet," said his campaign manager, Sachin Aggarwal. "We're still at the stage as a campaign where we're raising his name recognition and defining him."
The most recent poll put Mr. Rossi in fourth place, down from January when a strong maiden speech made him appear a contender. Since then, a few coolly received policy announcements - including a poorly sketched "jobs" plan - have made him seem more like a potential kingmaker.
It's hard to imagine how door-knocking with an iPad can change that, but you never know what the candidates have in their arsenals for the fall.
"I'm excited to see what else these guys have in the hopper," says Brett Bell, who runs the website Toronto Election News. "If I was on their social-media teams, I would not be deploying my killer app until September."