Fundraising or mud slinging. Politicians on social media.

One of the best examples of real-world political tactics spilling over into the virtual world was the online mudslinging between the rival camps of Manuel Villar Jr. and Benigno Aquino III during May's Philippine presidential election, when each side accused the other of dirty online tactics.

Whether or not these allegations were true, what was undeniable was that both campaign teams were pouring a lot of effort, and money, into social media.

The Philippine experience is not new. Recently, public officials from the US, the UK, Thailand, China and Japan have successfully boosted their popularity by adopting social media for use in their campaigns.

"Even though the internet is global, politics is fundamentally local, so now we are seeing best practice and amazing work being done in the Philippines and Thailand, that moves ahead from where Obama was in 2008," says David Ketchum, president, Asia-Pacific at Bite Communications.

Social media also offers significant opportunities for fund raising - in short, monetising supporters. In the US, president Obama raised more than US$600 million through social media. And, although online donations are banned in China and any use of social media close to the elections is outlawed in Japan, in the Philippines, Aquino had a text donation campaign.

"In Korea, one politician asked to borrow money online from his supporters, which he promised to pay back from the Government," says Napoleon Biggs, senior VP, head of digital integration, Asia-Pacific at Fleishman-Hillard, "He raised $3.5 million in two days, but then shut the site down because he got a bit scared."

One industry source suggests the perceived authenticity of communication over social networks means that, unlike traditional online advertising, click throughs for social media appeals are much higher.

"Unlike buying ads on search engines like Google, not to mention television, newspaper, billboard or even bumper sticker ads, there is no direct cost," he says.

Social media is also proving itself as a place for public officials to monitor support - and dissent. Biggs says that although Chinese government officials are not directly interacting with netizens, they are paying third parties to watch, listen and monitor comments.

"Social media in China is making the whole political environment much more transparent. It's exposing politically sensitive issues and corruption. Both President Hu and Premier Wen have opened their Chinese Twitter accounts on people.com.cn. Technology is perhaps forcing their hand, but they are learning how to use it," he says.

From a grass roots perspective, Biggs points out that a lot of netizens in China are also using the viral nature of social networking to push along investigations into politically-sensitive issues. "They are making the media aware of what's happening," he says.

During the recent political crisis in Thailand, social networks gave access and an insight into the situation that the usual media channels couldn't.

"Many TV stations in Thailand broadcast normal programming, a mixture of game shows and soap operas, even on the day of the crackdown and riots," says Ketchum.

"While traditional media certainly has a significant continuing role to play, clearly social media is offering faster, better options for many politicians to engage with their constituencies."

Christopher Chen, director of digital for Weber Shandwick Singapore, says politicians from the one city state lag behind when it comes to using social media, though the main political players have their own websites with dynamic content (videos, forums, podcasts).

"Singapore PM, Lee Hsien Loong, has his own Facebook page, but it only has 6,000 followers and not a lot of content," Chen says.

"I think there's a difference between parliamentary monarchies/borderline authoritarian democracies and true republican or constitutional democracies. When governments are not really answerable to the people, what need for social media do they have?"

Social media's political impact

• Social media offers significant opportunities for fund raising - in short monetising supporters. Click throughs for social media are higher than traditional online media.
• In China social media is making the political environment more transparent by exposing politically sensitive issues and corruption.
• President Hu and Premier Wen in China have both opened their own Chinese Twitter accounts on people.com.cn
• In Thailand during the recent political eruption, social media played a vital part in offering timely information, while national media continued to broadcast the usual programming of game shows and soap operas.

This article was originally published in the 1 July 2010 issue of Media.