The vast majority of candidates in European and local elections would feel naked without their social media accounts.
Being a tech industry insider and conscientious critic of the phenomena, I am one of the few candidates without social media. I successfully defended my writing about "Google, FSFE and Child Labor" in a legal administrative proceeding brought by IBM Red Hat.
Many candidates feel they can't engage with voters, their volunteers and the media without social media. Yet this is not the case. Many journalists successfully contacted me without any social media accounts. Some journalists told me they lost time due to fake news accounts on social media.
I hope to share experience from my campaign with the public and my rivals to help us all reflect on whether social media is really necessary.
As long as political candidates feel social media is indispensable, those who are elected will be unable to regulate it effectively.
(Conflict of interest disclaimer: Mr Pocock is a would-be politician commenting on would-be politicians)