Social networking is starting to influence every part of our lives nowadays, from reconnecting with old friends to sharing photos to voicing your opinions on the Apple iPad.

People have been turning to the internet to help guide them through the entire election, including researching the various parties and their MPs, registering to vote, voicing their own opinion and discussing topics affecting local and general issues.

According to analytical firm Experian, UK vote-related searches increased by 169 per cent between the week ending 3 April 2010 and the week ending 10 April with searches for the most popular term, 'register to vote', increasing nine-fold.

During the historic televised prime-ministerial debate, Twitter showed more than 184,396 tweets for the #leadersdebate, equating to more than 29 tweets-per-second!

Surfers also flocked in their tens-of-thousands to other social networks, news sites and blogs to comment and read up about the event. Even Google is lending a helping hand with its own dedicated election 2010 page tracking various UK Election search trends.

Beyond this major event, topics such as the passing of popular bills are increasingly discussed, petitioned and viewed on social networks such as Facebook, with the real time immediacy allowing political figures and the general public to have a greater impact on the decision making process, not just after the fact, but in near real time.

The same trend was seen in the US during the last election and was used to particularly good effect by Barack Obama and the change.gov platform to promote his profile and engage the nation's population by providing a single resource for Americans to give input on the priorities for the first year of the incoming administration.

The site had around 134,000 registered users, saw more than 30,000 ideas submitted in the first 96 hours and over 1.4 million votes cast in total. By the end of the election the site had received just shy of 40 million visits. The site's popularity is proof of the power of crowd-sourcing, not just for discussion, but for the generation of ideas.

A similar launch in the UK is Debate2010 web site http://www.debate2010.co.uk, which provides a dedicated, central platform for parties and voters to have their say and make a difference to what the next Government will do by harnessing the 'wisdom of the crowd' through the innovation of cloud computing.

All the parties and most MPs have a web site. A lot of MPs also have blogs, while around one in five are on Twitter, with parties having their own Twitter feeds as well. Critically, social media must not be viewed as a pure broadcast channel - those involved need to ensure that the communication is two-way, taking on and responding to comments made by voters.

This is particularly true for local MPs, who have a huge opportunity to use tools like Twitter to interact with constituents on a personal level, while getting a handle for the topics most strongly on the minds of those within their constituency.

So, while some may argue that social media may not make or break a party's chances in the upcoming election, at a time when apathy and mistrust in the political protest has ebbed, its value as a channel for education, awareness, debate and communication is undeniable.

Good news for e-commerce as figures report a dramatic rise in online spending in July, the fastest rate of increase in three years.

The online retail sector has been enjoying continued growth throughout the first half of 2010. But the latest results from the IMRG and Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index indicate that the rise in July was even greater than expected.

Online consumers in the UK spent an estimated £5 billion in July, or approximately £81 per head. That’s an impressive increase of 18% compared to June 2009, when total sales were £4.2 billion. The figures also represent growth of 14% when compared to June 2010, the highest monthly upturn of the year so far.

According to Chris Webster, Head of Retail Consulting and Technology at Capgemini, the figures show a return of customer confidence to pre-recession levels.  Webster welcomed the news suggesting that “although online retail sales survived the recession more convincingly than high street sales, the last two years or so have no doubt been shaky at times.”

What are the reasons for the marked growth in e-retail? Some sources, including the BBC, have suggested the British summer may have encouraged shoppers to stay indoors. Indeed with rainfall at twice its average value for the time of year, hopeful travellers logged on to take advantage of last minute deals on holidays and escape to sunnier climes. As a result, the online travel sector enjoyed a growth of a third compared to July 2009.

For David Smith, Managing Director of IMRG, the new figures are a result of changing consumer behaviour. He stated: “with over half of the UK population online at least once a day it is no surprise that online sales continue to grow impressively year on year.”

Smith asserted that now is not the time for online businesses to rest on their laurels: “The evidence mounts that high street retailers will need to invest more in their online business and put it at the heart of their retail strategy. Online retailers, on the other hand, will need to continue to innovate as they strive to close the growth gap.”