While he is being interviewed for this article, Tom Garrod is sending updates to his followers on Twitter. Garrod represents a new generation of local politicians. The 19-year-old Conservative was elected to Norfolk County Council in June and is one of the youngest councillors in the country.

To Garrod and his peers, using social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Blogspot is second nature. “Through my Twitter page people can actually see that I’m talking to you right now,” he says. “They can see what I’m up to, and the best part is that they can respond to it. I can ask their opinion and they can tell me what they think.”

Garrod is one of at least 200 councillors who now use the micro-blogging service Twitter. Tweeters post short, frequent tweets saying what they are doing at that moment. Councils have been experimenting with Twitter’s practical uses: during February’s heavy snowfall some used it to spread news of cancelled bin collections and school closures. Others “tweet” when they release a new press statement.

Tweety Hall, launched by the Local Government Association in April, is an online resource that helps people to track what their councillor is up to. Edward Welsh, the LGA’s programme director for media and campaigns, says the decline of local newspapers is one factor in the growing popularity of social networking. “Councillors have fewer channels available to them to speak to the public and so the online community is rapidly growing in importance.”

Simon Cooke, a Conservative member of Bradford City Council, is a prolific Tweeter with more than 600 followers. “I see Twitter as quite a fun thing to do, which I think is the best way of using these types of social media,” he says. “If you are going to use them, use them because it’s good fun and not because you think it’s important.”

Daisy Benson, a Liberal Democrat member of Reading Borough Council, used Facebook to encourage young people to take part in a scrutiny review of the standard of private rented housing in the area. “I used it because the issue we were looking at particularly affected students and young people and it’s a good way to reach them.”

Benson set up a Facebook group and listed the consultation questions. The group attracted more than 80 members. Among them was a local student, Neal Brown, who says that it was the first time he had taken part in a council initiative. “Facebook makes it easier for young people and students to get involved. While joining relatively silly groups about TV shows and such like, they are also joining groups with serious intent.”

Benson adds: “I’m certainly trying to impress on my council that using Facebook is a good thing to do. It’s cheap and it reaches a lot of people but it wouldn’t be suitable for every issue or every audience.”

Cambridgeshire County Council has used Twitter and Facebook to publicise a campaign encouraging people to vote in the June elections. It also posted five “vidcasts” on YouTube which, between them, have clocked up more than 800 viewings.

Council leader Jill Tuck, a Conservative, says: “We wanted a positive message that not only grabbed the media’s attention but could be used in various ways.” Voter turnout in the county was 39 per cent, up 4 per cent on its average figure for a non-general election.

Online technology is also transforming the way that councillors learn, with a trend for holding conferences online. More than 35,000 people have joined the Communities of Practice, an online resource, hosted by the Improvement and Development Agency, which encourages councillors and officers to share good practice. As well as saving time and money, online events also help to reduce councils’ carbon footprints.

Networking has always been at the heart of local politics, so the popularity of social media is bound to grow over time. “It’s fine for my generation — we have grown up with social networking,” Garrod says. “But you can’t say to every councillor that they have to have a Twitter account. It will happen slowly.”

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