Read article in its original context here:http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2928345.htm?site=sydney

ELEANOR HALL: Pre-prepared answers, glib one liners and little real debate.

That was some of the feedback from online contributors as political leaders in New South Wales took electioneering into cyberspace this morning.

On the social networking site, Twitter, the New South Wales Premier, Kristina Keneally, the Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell and the Greens MP Lee Rhiannon had half an hour to win over voters ahead of a crucial by-election this weekend.

So, is this the way election campaigns are heading?

Simon Santow reports.

SIMON SANTOW: In the twittersphere, it seems silly to set a specific time down for a debate.

That's because, the internet site 'Twitter' was already alive with questions and discussion well before the appointed hour. But while there might have been plenty of enthusiasm, it didn't take long for the disappointment to show through.

This from one cynic.

TWITTER 1: Politicians embrace new media platforms to broadcast old rhetoric. Hilarity ensues.

SIMON SANTOW: And...

TWITTER 2: Ironic really. This is the worst use of twitter I've seen from Kristina Keneally. Just the lines, no discussion.

SIMON SANTOW: Or.

TWITTER 3: Kristina Keneally sounds like a talking campaign brochure so far.

TWITTER 4: A debate via twitter - are you kidding me. Are we now celebrating soundbite politics?

SIMON SANTOW: With Labor expecting a bloody nose in a weekend by-election and the Coalition opposition battling increased expectations, the leaders kept things pretty bland to begin with.

Policy was re-announced, some specific to the area, other policy rehashed budget announcements relevant to the whole state.

Twitter restricts comments to 140 characters or less, and even before the debate had begun the Liberals' Barry O'Farrell was cynical about what could be achieved.

BARRY O'FARRELL: I hope this is not the way of the future because it excludes face to face interaction with the public and no one's got any idea as to whether the tweets that are coming out of the Premier's office or other offices are their own or whether they're scripted by the ad guys and other people.

SIMON SANTOW: Premier Kristina Keneally had gone on YouTube to help publicise the debate.

KRISTINA KENEALLY: Hi. Join me tomorrow for a debate on twitter. It's your opportunity to ask the Premier of New South Wales whatever you like - about Penrith or anything else.

SIMON SANTOW: Twitter participant and Greens MP Lee Rhiannon sees plenty of positives in going online.

LEE RHIANNON: We thought that it really would provide an opportunity for more voters to put their questions directly to some of the key political parties.

SIMON SANTOW: Now smaller parties like the Greens are often left out of debates. Was this just a way of actually being on the same playing field as the others?

LEE RHIANNON: Look our key motivation was to use social media because there's clearly a, it's a growth area and we wanted to ensure that we're able to maximise voter interaction with MPs and candidates. Because these days there's just a lot of spin about, I think people often get over the glossy election campaigns and over-managed candidates and this was a way to cut through.

SIMON SANTOW: Julie Posetti is a former broadcast journalist who these days lectures in journalism and specialises in social media at the University of Canberra.

JULIE POSETTI: It's evidence of a growing trend, which is that there's an attempt by politicians to subvert the media gatekeepers in a traditional sense. So rather than having debates on television or radio, there's an attempt to engage directly with voters, with an audience at least via platforms like twitter.

SIMON SANTOW: So did this emerging form of democracy work?

JULIE POSETTI: I think it was flawed like all democracy Simon. It was a demonstration of chaos at one level as both the audience and the participants tried to get used to this high speed sort of mass onslaught of communication in short sound bites, which is what twitter can amount to.

At the same time though as many people observed, it was a useful exercise. It was an innovative approach to try to engender political debate, you know, across a broader spectrum.

There was an interesting, you know, attempt of intervention by the constituents, but there was little attempt to do much more for the most part by the politicians until towards the end to do much more than sprout slogans.

You know, it was a bit like watching a never ending stream of political advertisements albeit, you know, in a multi partisan way on the screen.

SIMON SANTOW: And let's not forget old media with a federal election in the wings and polls in Victoria and New South Wales not too far away, voters can expect to be blitzed whenever and wherever.

Escaping the onslaught might prove very difficult indeed.

ELENAOR HALL: Simon Santow reporting.