Which SNS should a prospective candidate start with? Focus on growing just one first
It was just past 11 p.m. in my third week of standing in front of the station.
On my smartphone home screen, I have Instagram, X, and Facebook. All three are installed. All three have their last posts stuck at 11 days ago.
I scroll with my finger, scroll back, and eventually close the apps and put the phone on the charger. I have to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow morning, after all.
“Not posting” becomes the only achievement of the day
This story of “opening and closing” is something I often hear from first-time challengers.
It is not that there is nothing to write about.
That day, I greeted 50 people in front of the station. I read the city newsletter and found some interesting figures. I stopped by a preparatory meeting for a local summer festival.
I have the material.
The reason it stops is because I am re-deciding where and in what format to write every single time.
If it's Instagram, I need a photo. All I took today was one blurry photo of the station. If it's X, it seems better to summarize it briefly. On Facebook, I have many acquaintances, and it feels a bit embarrassing to write about serious policy issues.
When all three are lined up, this decision-making process resets to square one every night.
4 reactions, all from high school classmates
A post I finally worked up the courage to upload gets 4 likes.
When I open it to check, they are all high school classmates. I am grateful for the reaction. However, those 4 likes alone don't tell me if my activities are reaching people in the electoral district.
Before long, I spend more time looking at the numbers than at the content of the posts.
One follower gained. One follower lost. I spend another 30 minutes trying to figure out who left.
What hurts even more is when I end up looking at the accounts of other prospective candidates in the same district.
Their photos are beautiful, their posts are consistent, and they reply to comments politely. When I return to my own home screen, I see three accounts with stopped updates lined up.
And the text I start writing and then delete always stops at the same place.
“I appreciate your support.”
You type that much, and then your fingers stop. You wonder, isn't this pre-election campaigning?
The more you have to say, the harder it becomes to say it.
Around this point, many people start to think like this.
Maybe I'm just not cut out for posting online.
The real problem isn't a lack of talent for posting.
When someone starts three platforms at once, updates on all of them stop. This is not a matter of ability.
Managing three platforms doesn't just mean your workload triples.
Before you post, you have to make decisions over and over again about 'where, what, and in what format to write.'
This is what takes its toll.
The most exhausting part isn't the act of writing; it's the act of deciding. When you have more to decide, you get tired and quit. That's only natural.
When you spread your posts across three platforms, it also becomes difficult to tell what kind of response you're getting on each one.
On the other hand, if you post to one place for a certain period of time,
which topics get read,
which photos are easier to convey,
what time of day you get a response,
what kind of feedback you get from local people,
you can observe these things.
This doesn't mean that narrowing it down to one will guarantee your followers will increase.
However,it becomes easier to gather the materials needed for improvement.
In short, it's like this.
The problem is not that you "lack the ability to broadcast," but that you "haven't decided on a core focus."
Because it's not decided, you hesitate every time. Because you hesitate, you stop. Because you stop, you don't get any results. Because there are no results, you lose confidence.
This is always the sequence.
Conversely, if you decide just once at the beginning, everything else becomes a task of placing records in the same place.
Here is one area where you can relax.
The criteria for choosing is not just about trends, nor just about your own preferences.
"Where are the people I want to reach with my activities actually looking?"
This is the one point to check first.
The wall of "I can't write" that remains after deciding
However, narrowing it down to one doesn't mean everything will go smoothly.
The next wall will come.
Once your core focus is decided, you will worry less about "where should I post?" Instead, you will find yourself facing a blank input field several times a week.
Between standing at the station, work, and family, finding 30 minutes to write is quite difficult.
We are building a cloud-based workspace for local assembly members and prospective candidates.
It is called SENTAI.
It is a tool that connects your contact list, records of resident consultations, assembly preparations, and drafts for public relations into one place.
What relates to this article is the public relations part.
If you enter three bullet points about what you did, saw, or noticed that day, a draft for your SNS post will appear.
No complex prompts are needed.
You can create a draft for a post from short inputs like "I greeted people at the station today" or "I saw the numbers for children on the waiting list in the city's public relations."
If there are expressions that should be checked under the Public Offices Election Act, we will also organize the points to check.
However, the campaign headquarters does not judge what is legal or illegal. The campaign headquarters only organizes the points that need to be checked. Ultimately, please check with the competent election administration commission or experts such as lawyers.
And,the campaign headquarters will not decide which SNS to use as your main platform.
What really hits home is the wall of 'I can't write' that comes after that.
▶ See the campaign headquarters' PR draft function
From here on, there will be no talk of tools.
Step 1: Decide which SNS to use as your main platform
The 'main platform' for a candidate's SNS refers to the central account where about 80% of posts are placed.
80% is not a strict rule. It is a guideline to help you decide, 'If I'm unsure, I'll post here first.'
There is no need to force yourself to update the remaining SNS accounts every day. Use them minimally as a place for your profile and announcements.
There are 3 steps to deciding.
If you prepare paper and a pen, you can do it in about 30 minutes.
1. Write down 10 people you want to reach with your activities
Even if you have zero names on a list, you can come up with 10 people.
Relatives, seniors from your previous workplace, people you've talked to at local gatherings, the fire brigade, people you see at daycare.
Write the following information next to their names.
Approximate age
SNS they likely use regularly
What kind of information they would likely read
Whether you can confirm they actually use SNS
What is important here is not to make assumptions based solely on age.
There are people in their 60s who check Instagram every day. There are people in their 30s who use local Facebook groups.
Do not decide based on imagination alone; ask the people you can talk to directly.
"Where do you usually look for local information?"
This one question can sometimes provide more useful information than national averages.
(2) Actually look at incumbent council members and past candidates in the same electoral district
Search for about five council members in your city, ward, town, or village, or people who have run for office in the past.
What you should check is not just the number of followers.
Which SNS they are updating consistently
What kind of posts receive local-style engagement
Out of local events, policies, and daily life, what is being read
What kind of conversations are being generated in the comment section
Whether the posts seem to lead to on-the-ground activities
If a city council member's Facebook post consistently receives comments from accounts that appear to be local residents, that is a clue that Facebook is being used in that area.
However, there is no guarantee that the people who commented actually live within the electoral district.
This is a clue to understand the reality, not data to predict vote counts.
If you want to check national usage trends by age group, the "Survey on Usage Time and Information Behavior of Information and Communications Media" by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Information and Communications Policy Institute is also a useful reference.
However, national averages and the reality of your own electoral district are different things.
Use national surveys as a supplementary guide, and prioritize the 10 people right in front of you and the reactions within your local area.
(3) Make a final decision based on a format you can continue
If you ignore this, you will stop after three months.
If you don't mind writing and have local, real-name connections on Facebook, then Facebook is a candidate.
If you have a habit of taking photos and want to visually convey your activities, then Instagram is a candidate.
If you can consistently post short comments on policies or news and want to reach journalists, experts, and people outside the city, then X is a candidate.
The important thing is not 'which one is generally the correct answer'.
Choose the place where these three things overlap: your region, the people you want to reach, and the tasks you can continue.
Step 2: Don't 'quit' the others, use them as a 'storage space'
You don't need to immediately delete the SNS accounts you didn't choose as your main focus.
There is a way to keep them as a place for your profile and announcements.
There are three things to do.
Write your activity region and position in your profile
Place a link to your main account or official website
Post one self-introduction or activity policy in a place that can be pinned
Only on days when you have extra time, re-edit and post the content you put on your main account in a shorter format.
You don't need to track reactions on every SNS.
Think of it as an online business card to create a state where people can reach your information when they search for you.
Step 3: What to do in the first 30 days
Days 1-3: Fill out your profile
This is a place that is easily neglected, but it is the first place people check when they become interested in you.
At a minimum, include the following five items.
A photo that clearly shows who you are
Taking it with a smartphone in a place with natural light is sufficient. It does not have to be in a suit.Name and furigana
Add furigana for surnames or given names that are easily misread.Name of the area where you are active
Write at least the city, ward, town, or village name. Without the area name, people in that region cannot determine if the account is relevant to them.A brief description of your background
Include things like your previous job, current child-rearing status, returning to your hometown, or caregiving experience. Include words that convey your background, not just your title.Two or three themes of interest
Instead of saying 'anything about the region,' write specifically, such as 'child-rearing,' 'disaster prevention,' or 'shopping streets.'
Furthermore, regarding how to express your intention to run in a specific election, please check in advance with the relevant election administration commission or an expert, including whether the wording could be perceived as a request for votes.
Day 4: Write one pinned post
Write about 'why you are active in this area,' aiming for 300 to 500 characters.
You do not need to summarize it perfectly.
However, please include only one specific event.
Just saying 'I want to make the region better' makes it difficult for the reader to visualize the situation.
'My grandmother fell on the road in front of my parents' house'
'I noticed the danger of the same intersection every morning while dropping off my child'
'I heard three shops in a row talking about closing down on the shopping street'
Including one such scene makes it easier to convey the reason you started your activities.
Day 5 and beyond: Follow a 3-post-per-week pattern
To avoid thinking from scratch every time, rotate through three types of posts.
Things you saw
Station fronts, events, roads, parks, local scenery. Start with one photo and three lines.Things you researched
Introduce one figure that caught your attention from city public relations, assembly materials, or statistics.Things you thought
Write about what you think based on what you saw and researched.
The initial benchmark is seen twice, researched once.
You don't have to write about your "thoughts" every time. Once or twice a month is enough.
Trying to discuss major policies in every post will make the burden of writing too heavy.
It is easier to keep going if you view posting not as "selling yourself," but as reporting on your activities and recording changes in the community.
If three times a week is difficult, please start with twice a week.
What is important is not to temporarily increase the number of posts, but to find a frequency that you can maintain without stopping.
There are two pitfalls
1. Check the line between "please support me" and electioneering before posting
Article 129 of the Public Offices Election Act stipulates that the period during which election campaigns can be conducted is, in principle, from the day the candidacy is filed until the day before the voting day.
Therefore, engaging in acts that constitute an election campaign, such as requesting votes for a specific election before filing a candidacy, is prohibited as a pre-election campaign.
On the other hand, posting about policy dissemination or daily political activities does not immediately mean everything is an election campaign.
However, this does not mean that you can write whatever you want just by labeling it as a political activity.
Whether an individual post constitutes an election campaign is determined comprehensively based on factors such as:
the timing of the post
the content written
who it was addressed to
whether it contains expressions requesting votes
the method used, including preceding and subsequent posts and activities
.
The Public Offices Election Act is the same nationwide. It is not the case that "laws differ by municipality."
However, it is difficult to provide uniformly safe phrasing for specific posts.
Before you begin, prepare drafts for your profile and pinned posts, and confirm the general approach with the relevant election administration committee. If you are unsure, consult with an expert, such as a lawyer familiar with election practice.
2. Do not make follower count your only goal
1,000 followers and 1,000 votes are two different things.
Reactions from outside your constituency are meaningful for spreading awareness. However, those numbers do not directly indicate support within your constituency.
If you want to check, look for reactions like the following:
Comments from accounts that appear to be from local residents
Specific questions regarding local issues
Number of instances that led to participation in local events or activities
Number of times someone said "I saw your SNS" in person
Consultations or information provided by people who saw your posts
Recording the number of times people say "I saw your SNS" in a notebook or campaign log will help support your continued efforts in posting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I have already created three accounts. Should I close them?
You do not have to delete them.
For accounts other than your main one, include a link to your main account or official website in your profile, and pin a self-introduction post.
After that, do not force yourself to update them; use them as a place for announcements or as a destination when people search for you.
However, if old titles or information about past elections remain, please update at least your profile.
Q. How about making a LINE Official Account my main one?
A LINE Official Account is suitable for maintaining ongoing communication with people you have already connected with.
You can generate URLs and QR codes for adding friends, and guide people to register from SNS, websites, flyers, and more. There are also mechanisms like verified accounts to help people find you through search.
However, compared to public SNS, this is not a medium where you can expect posts to be widely shared by chance. Basically, you need to create a path for people to add you as a friend.
Therefore, it is realistic to first have people learn about your activities on Facebook, Instagram, X, etc., and then have them add your official LINE account as a means of communication once you have established a connection.
Q. Honestly, I'm still afraid to show my face.
You don't need to show your face in every post from the beginning.
You can place one photo on your profile that shows who you are, and for regular posts, you can start with things like:
local scenery
your hands while reading documents
the scene in front of the station
event venues
the condition of roads or parks
and so on.
Even on Instagram, showing your face is not mandatory.
However, for a prospective candidate, conveying "who is active" also leads to trust. As you get used to it, please gradually increase the number of natural photos of events and your activities.
Choosing a format you can continue is the top priority.
What was missing on those nights when you opened and closed three apps was neither grit nor literary talent.
"Today, I will write here."
It was having one place decided upon.
Deciding on your main focus takes about 30 minutes.
After that, just post three lines each about what you saw, what you researched, and what you noticed.
The purpose of SNS is not to announce major claims every day.
It is to convey, little by little, what you see, what you think, and what you are doing in the community.
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*Sentai is not a service that provides legal judgments. For final confirmation regarding the Public Offices Election Act, please consult the relevant election administration committee or experts such as lawyers.
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