Last night saw the first ever British televised debate between the main party leaders vying to win the 2010 British election. While everyone who watched it will admit it didn’t have quite the pizzazz of the US clash between Obama, McCain, Biden and Palin it certainly has everyone talking a bit more about the election, which is no bad thing.

This week’s debate focused on domestic affairs with the debate on foreign affairs coming next to Sky News on the 22nd April and the final debate on the economy appearing on BBC 1 on April 29th.

But how does this affect you? Well last night’s debate isn’t one that particularly concerns graduates or internships; the one that we will all be paying close attention to is the debate on the 29th April when we will really see the issues of graduate rights and graduate unemployment addressed. So why are we blogging about the election debate then? Well, I think last night was a great example of the way in which the internet allows a global discussion to occur almost simultaneously to an event occurring.

If you were on the ITV site while you watched the debate you will have noticed the so called ‘worm’ that mapped everyone’s opinion of the leaders. As the debate continued red, yellow and blue ‘public perception’ curves fluctuated up and down every time Gordon Brown said “I agree with you Nick” and Cameron refused to clarify his stance on national insurance. This is a great example of how the internet and in particular social media applications, such as twitter and facebook, are changing the way we get and use information.

This, as our ambassadors will remember, is a point that was raised by Paul Harrison from Carve media group the other day and is a point that WEXO would like to share with all its members. It’s getting to a stage now where information is globally available in a matter of seconds. Why wait to read the news from the BBC or some other second or third hand source when you can go on twitter and read a tweet written by someone who is there? This has huge implications for business as well. If someone in Japan buys an mp3 player and is unhappy with it, in the time it takes to make a few key strokes someone in London can read this report and form an opinion of a product before it has even landed on these shores. There is no room for error now; business has to not only make sure it is constantly monitoring this information and adapting its product or service but it also needs to know how to utilise this great resource to its advantage. One example of this is someone tweeting that her phone is rubbish and Vodaphone tweeting back five minutes later with their latest phone contracts. Some may find this a little creepy, but is this future? I think it might just be…..

This is where you come in. To use the business term, you are a ‘digital native’. You have grown up using social media applications and this is something that can really be used to your advantage when you apply for roles. You know how to use this and more importantly how other people your age use it. This is a great bit of information to have and something a business will want.

My advice to you? Use it. Make sure you get this across in interviews or your CV and WEXO believe it could tip the balance in your favour when it comes to bagging that perfect work experience, internship or job. Please feel free to discuss underneath.

Are you not sure how you are going to vote? Give this site a try, votematch, and let us know what you think.

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