I have decided that today is County Executive Scorecard day. This is my third County Executive Scorecard (Howard County & Anne Arundel County were completed earlier) today and my first look at this race. This one caught my interest and I thought I would see how the candidates are using social media for voter outreach.

Now on to the evaluation…

The candidates:

Democrat

Jan Gardner – http://www.jangardner.org

Republican

Blaine Young – http://www.blaineyoung.com

The Scorecard: (Click the “Yes” or follower numbers below to view the social media page)

9/13/14	Blaine Young		Jan Gardner
Facebook	4277		2724
Twitter	485		189

Comments: This is my first look at the numbers in this race so I have no trends to show, just the total number of followers each candidate has today.

Blaine Young currently has the most Facebook and Twitter followers. He holds significant follower advantages on each platform. This is a real positive for his campaign.

One surprise is that neither candidates is doing anything other than Facebook or Twitter. There are many other platforms that could/would be helpful based on the content I have seen posted from these candidates. Platforms like YouTube and Instagram would be my recommendations for both campaigns.

Now we all know that follower trends is only one part of technology outreach, follower engagement is as (if not more) important. Let’s take a look at engagement numbers on Twitter and Facebook:

Here is a look at the candidates Twitter profiles, activity and engagement: (Click photo for full size)

The key item to look at is “Popularity”. This shows the number of recent retweets and favorites. Jan Gardner shows more strength with Twitter follower engagement. Neither candidate is active enough and both should consider using this platform more regularly.

Here is a look at the Facebook activity over the past week of the candidate pages in this race: (Click photo for full size)

Jan Gardner had the better week on Facebook with follower engagement. She received significantly more likes, shares and comments that her opponent.

Based on the numbers I am not ready to pick an outright technology outreach leader in this race today. Blaine has the number of followers edge but Jan has the follower engagement edge. I will reevaluate this race in October and we will see what improvements these candidates make at that time.

Scott E