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The mayor of share

On mayoral frontrunner George Smitherman’s just-launched social media site, he updates his status from Furious to Social.[rssbreak]

But social.georgesmitherman.ca is no Smitherbook, Smitter or MySmitherman.

“Social.georgesmitherman.ca is a social hub and news feed we just launched to coordinate our social media team,” says campaign spokesperson Stefan Baranski.

But really, it’s yet another butterfingered attempt to use social networking as a political tool.

The social George site currently works as an aggregator, grabbing Twitter feeds from Smitherman campaign workers and reposting them in George-ified feed.

Other than that, the purpose of this site is indeterminate. Its features range from unnecessary to useless.

For one, the site offers ways to share or repost Smitherman updates to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. But those same sites and about a million applications already perform those functions.

Two, there are log-ins but no way to sign up. Apart from sharing what Smitherman posts (he expects users to make his speeches at the Toronto Board of Trade go viral? And for what?), there’s no way to interact with the campaign at all. Interaction, of course, is most fundamental to the social Web.

All in all, Smitherman’s social flop is nothing out of the ordinary. He joins a crowd of Canadian politicians who dress up their campaigns with social networking or other Web 2.0 innovations purely for show. There has never been a net effect, except of course for the high-tech aesthetic: Smitherman can now boast he’s “engaging” with his “followers” online.

Quel domage. Social networking and politics could mix together very well, like truffle oil and french fries. Instead, Smitherman’s effort barely looks good on the plate.

Here’s how the other notable candidates stack up in the social medium:

Joe Pantalone: Most likeable, positive and responsive. (Got a Direct Message from him yet?) Also has the most promising Web policy – online voting in 2014, among other progressive initiatives – though he has yet to make that clear on the Web.

Rocco Rossi: Attempts to be scrappy, with Google ads and Craigslist postings, but he just comes across as desperate.

Rob Ford: His Internet strategy is to depend on hordes of commenters to defend him. Low-tech, but it’s been effective in the past.

Sarah Thomson: Might be the most accessible, via her Twitter account. Mention her and she’ll likely take note.

Giorgio Mammoliti: He’s outrageous – outrageously in touch. Or so he says on his latest Web video. But finding him online is like looking for Elvis.

joshuae@nowtoronto.com

twitter.com/joshuaerrett

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