The Finnish presidential election is well under way, heading into the second and final round on February 5. This election marks an important change in Finnish politics, ending the era of social democratic presidents. The Finns are also guaranteed to see a change in leadership, as the incumbent, Tarja Halonen, has served her maximum of two terms as president. This will be the first time since 1982 the president is from another party than the Social Democratic Party.
Obama effect for Haavisto
No candidate received a majority of the votes in the first election round on January 22. Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party leads the race, having received 37 % of the vote in the first round. He will face off against Pekka Haavisto of the Green League in just over a week.
This is no small feat for Haavisto, as this is the first time a Green League presidential candidate makes it into the second election round. But some Finnish commentators, researchers and social media experts are talking about Haavisto’s “Obama effect” in social media.
Winning, internet style
At the beginning of the presidential race , it seemed that frontrunner Niinistö was the best bet for new President, at least according to his Facebook and Twitter following. Finnish marketing blogger Pär Österlund did a survey of all the candidates’ social media following in early January (in Finnish). The situation then looked like this:
Comparison of candidates social media following as of Jan. 9, 2012. Graphics by Pär Österlund.
Since then, however, Haavisto seems to be kicking some serious online butt. Researcher Jarmo Rinne says to hbl.fi that Haavisto seems to be making more of an effort online than his opponent (article in Swedish). And on January 23, Haavisto’s Facebook Page surpassed the Niinistö Page in terms of followers.
Haavisto is focusing on social media as a campaign tool, as his election campaign have smaller budgets than that of his competitors, according to Balticworlds.com.
Live election social media feeds
Who wins the social media race to the Finnish presidency? We won’t know until the votes are tallied after the second election round on February 5.
In the meantime, you can follow the election through social media live here. And if you’re interested in an analysis of the different candidates’ social media use, try this blog post (in Finnish).
And we can be quite sure that this is the election when social media are put firmly on the map in Finnish politics.
Thanks are in order!
Reader, beware: I do not speak Finnish. My interpretation of the relevant blog posts has been constructed through Google Translate, and I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies. If you have info, corrections, or other input, please leave me a note in the comments section.
This blog post could never have been constructed without the help of my Finnish contacts Jari Lähdevuori and Anna Parikka. I hope I haven’t messed up your beautiful input too much. Also great thanks to Atle Syvertsen, a Norwegian journalist who has worked as communications adviser for Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki.
