Social Media is Changing the Face of Politics

A Survey From the IT Job Board Finds That IT Professionals are Using Both Traditional and Online Mediums to Follow the 2010 Election

LONDON, April 30, 2010 - A new survey of IT professionals by The IT Job Board revealed that whilst
political parties are attracting younger voters using social networking and
online media sites, the majority of IT professionals are relying on the
mainstream media to follow the election campaign.

70% of respondents said all political parties have become more web savvy
and used Twitter and Facebook effectively to engage a younger audience.
However, whilst they advocate a greater use of these sites by the Parties,
the majority of respondents prefer to read newspapers and online news and
follow the debates on TV (68%).

Whilst they recognised clear advantages of using social networking
including gaining instant news updates, reading diverse viewpoints and
interacting in live discussion, 80% said they did not believe what they were
reading on Twitter and in online forums. The consensus was that news sites
written by a third party are not subject to any direct agenda from the main
political parties.

When asked if the General Election will have a positive effect on the IT
and technology industry, views were mixed. Almost one-third (32%) said that
the elected party kept the promises made in their election manifestos, it
would boost the IT industry, 24% said it wouldn't make any difference to the
industry and 34% were unsure. Equally, just under half (45%) said the
election wouldn't necessarily have a positive impact on the number of jobs
available for IT professionals.

Alex Farrell, managing director of The IT Job Board said:
"Although IT professionals are users of social networking sites, they still
prefer to engage in a combination of online and more traditional offline
mediums to follow the election campaign. However, online mediums are growing
fast in popularity and social networking sites are playing an important role
in information gathering".

Notes to editors

About The IT Job Board:

The IT Job Board group of companies was set up in April 2002
in recognition that recruitment in the IT sector was increasingly dominated
by the internet.

Today, The IT Job Board (www.theitjobboard.co.uk) is the UK's
biggest IT specialist recruitment website with over 23383 vacancies
advertised (as at April 2010).

Online technology enables sophisticated targeting - for example by skill,
region or experience - of The IT Job Board's database of 800,000 IT
professionals. The company always tries to get closer to candidates either
via planned content campaigns, or through the use of social networks.

The site also offers employers services such as branded job
postings, a featured employer zone, targeted email campaigns and guidance on
advertising copy. The managed campaign service filters responses to provide
companies with a shortlist of applicants most suitable for the advertised
position.

www.theitjobboard.co.uk's clients include The Co-Op
Financial Services, Accenture, DG Group, Sky, Onelan Digital Signage, BP, The
Legal Ombudsman and The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (NHS).

    For further information, interviews and photography please
    contact:
    Lisa Whiting/Kathryn Hughes
    Publicite Ltd
    T: +44(0)20-8543-6582
    E: l.whiting@publicite.co.uk

For further information, interviews and photography please contact: Lisa Whiting/Kathryn Hughes, Publicite Ltd, T: +44(0)20-8543-6582, E: l.whiting at publicite.co.uk