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Updated June 1st - Social Media impact on the 2018 local and provincial election

Nolan Machan
Social Media Impact on Ontario Election 2018 | NordWood Themes on Unsplash
Social Media Impact on Ontario Election 2018 | NordWood Themes on Unsplash

Social Media impacts how people consume their news. For years its influence has been increasing exponentially. We've seen its effect on how people learn about and decide on who they are going to vote for. Information has been updated at of June 1, 2018 and marked in read

Original Posted: May 25, 2018

Locally, candidates are putting up signs, canvasing neighbourhoods, and making phone calls. Those calls are starting to diminish as voters discontinue their traditional service, and move to cellular. However, the phone numbers provided to all candidates are traditional. Increasingly, candidates are relying on social media to get out their message.

There is a theory that the more presence a candidate has on social media, the more likely they are to win an election. So is this true? We'll have to find out.

Please note that candidates are listed by their last name - Oakville News does not support any political party.

Social Media for Oakville Riding Candidates

Stephen Crawford

  1. Facebook Page Followers: 351 has increased to: 363
  2. Twitter Followers: 762 has increased to: 791
  3. YouTube Subscribers: 10 has remained at 10

Kevin Flynn

  1. Facebook Page Followers: 548 increased to 583
  2. Twitter Followers: 6,671 increased to 6,676
  3. Instagram Followers: 953 increased to 975

Lesley Sprague

  1. Facebook Page Followers: NA
  2. Twitter Followers: NA
  3. Oakville NDP Page Followers: 344 decreased to 330

For the Oakville Riding, Kevin Flynn has the greatest social media presence; however, he was the sitting MPP for Oakville. Stephen Crawford is second, followed by Lesley Sprague.

Social Media for Party Leaders & Parties

Doug Ford

  1. Twitter Followers: 52,900 increase to 55,200
  2. Facebook Page Followers: 42,059 increased to 43,799

Progressive Conservative Party

  1. Facebook Page Followers: 72,495 increase to 75,511
  2. Twitter Followers: 35,800 increased to 36,900

Andrea Horwath

  1. Twitter Followers: 96,600 increased to 99,800
  2. Facebook Page Followers: 45,788 increased to 47,264

New Democratic Party

  1. Facebook Page Followers: 25,276 increased to 27,401
  2. Twitter Followers: 36,000 increased to 37,500

Kathleen Wynne

  1. Twitter Followers: 252,000 increased to 253,000
  2. Facebook Page Followers: 61,815 increased to 63,371

Liberal Party

  1. Facebook Page Followers: 13,926 increased to 16,048
  2. Twitter Followers: 31,100 increased to 31,800

Increases for the Oakville riding candidates from May 31st to June 1st is:

Stephen Crawford - Conservative

  • Facebook: 12
  • Twitter: 9

Kevin Flynn - Liberal

  • Facebook: 35
  • Twitter: 1

Leslie Sprague - NDP

  • Facebook: NA
  • Twitter: NA

Kathleen Wynne was the Premier; however much like Mr Flynn, her social media impact would naturally be stronger. Andrea Horwath is second, and Doug Ford is third.

Will the effect of social media presence have a real impact on the Ontario Provincial Election for 2018 in Oakville? We'll have to see.

Oakville News will update this information as voting day approaches for comparison purposes.

Updated May 22nd: 2018 Provincial Candidates for Oakville and Oakville North-Burlington

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