This election is the first to run in Twitter’s lifetime and Facebook has increased exponentially in popularity over the last couple of years. In March it beat Google for hits and people are using it more than ever to talk to their friends. On Twitter, people are searching under #ukvote, #generalelection, #iagreewithnick, #godave, #electionday and #gobrown and actively posting and seeking out the latest political news and gossip. Politicians have also been using it (and more notably, politicians wives) as a new way of interacting with the people they hope to govern.

Sure enough, a quick check of the @cheltsocmedcafe Twitter stream shows 10 posts about the election in the first page. These are opinions, links to articles and voting announcements (by which I mean – “I’ve been to vote” – not declarations of what party has been voted for).

Web 2.0 is about giving people a platform to interact and the response to the general election is a great example of the 2.0 philosophy at work. Generation Y, the new voters who are often portrayed as disinterested students and ‘non-believers’ are also considered to be the most likely people to be using social media. Is that really the case? Or has Twitter been taken over by people like me (generation Xs) who, having previously Tweeted for professional reasons are now using Twitter as their soapbox, ignored by (or trying to encourage) the masses of disaffected Ys?

To be honest, I don’t care what generations are using Twitter, or Facebook (as long as they’re not underage). It’s refreshing to see people get excited about the welfare of our country, although the cynical side of me thinks we probably wouldn’t be so concerned if the country wasn’t in such a mess.

Whoever they are, people on Twitter are reporting every step, every gaffe (#bigotedwoman) and every near fatal accident (Nigel Farrage) in the run up to the election.  Politicians have been getting themselves in trouble by tweeting things they shouldn’t. When the leaders debates were happening there was live commentary accompanied by the #leadersdebate hashtag and, of course, people were Tweeting their opinions. News travels fast over the internet and it seems as if everything is under scrutiny. Unlike Facebook comments, Tweets can be read by anybody, even people who don’t have an account and this is how ideas and news spread the quickest.

Whoever gets voted in – the message is clear. Twitter will be watching! Web 2.0 isn’t just an opportunity. It’s also a threat.