'A critical part of the toolset': Social media plays key role in getting elected

Election campaigning is underway and candidates say it involves more than knocking on doors these days.

Using various social media platforms has become a big part of reaching voters.

"I think it's a critical part of the toolset," said Hannah Bell, a Green Party candidate.

Bell said she spends about 20 hours a week on social media posts, whether it's Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

"If you're not on social media and using it in an effective way in your campaign, you're missing out on connecting with voters," said Bell.

Mother-daughter posting team

Mary Ellen McInnis, a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives, said she knows social media. But her daughter, Heather Morrison,is more skilled at it, so she's in charge of McInnis's posts.

"She is always after me to take some pictures and to feed them into her," said McInnis. "And I usually give her a caption of what's going on and she'll elaborate and add the proper hashtags,"

She said with a short campaign, she wants to spend her time knocking on doors and leaves the posting to her daughter.

'Much easier way to communicate'

Morrison said her mother sends her the content, and she just tries to keep postingsgoing as quickly as possible.

She said if candidates don't communicate via social media they're missing out.

"I don't subscribe to the paper," said Morrison. "I get my news from Twitter."

She likes the instant information showing viewsand all the different ways people can message candidates.

"It's just a much easier way to communicate," she said.

Many changes

NDP Leader Joe Byrne said he has observed many changes since he ran as a federal candidate in 2011.

"There's no comparison," he said.

"You have to be on Instagram and Facebook," he said. He also referred to Twitteras anamazing source of information.

Byrne said it's also much cheaper to do outreach on social media as opposed to printing materials or taking out ads.

'People want to see what you're doing'

Liberal candidate Gord McNeilly said he's more comfortable with Facebook, but he's trying to expand his social media presence.

He said social media is pretty important, but fun, too.

"My daughter is telling me to do more Instagram stories," said McNeilly. "I'm trying to."

He tries to doposts a few times a day.

He said he tries to stay positive but said there can be both negative and positive discussions on social media.

"It's election time," he said. "People need a voice."