It's the town hall meeting of the cyber world.
Social media is now a major medium for election campaigning, some even labelling this year New Zealand's social media election. Major parties have adopted campaign hashtags, National using #teamkey and Labour's #votepositive and Green's #LoveNZ. But how well are our local candidates using social media?
Greens Te Tai Hauauru candidate Jack McDonald appears to be the most proficient user, sending more than 6000 tweets.
"I find it's really about the connectivity with people. It's really effective if you're creating quality infographics that are able to be shared, then it will be shared," he said.
"Sometimes you have to have a thick skin. You get that [abuse] a lot more with social media than you get in real life. People in real life are actually nice people."
But Mr McDonald said social media was only one part of campaigning.
"You can't be over-reliant on it, you can't waste all your time."
Mr McDonald said Facebook was probably the leading social media site for engaging the general public, while Twitter was used by the more informed and tended to be used more in urban areas.
National Party MPs for Whanganui and Rangitikei, Chester Borrows and Ian McKelvie, use Facebook regularly as a campaign diary and to post accounts and photos of what they are up to on the campaign, as does Whanganui Labour candidate Hamish McDouall. Mr Borrows said it was now essential. "If you're not on social media this election ... you're not going to be in the hunt."
Some add personal touches to their campaigning. Rangitikei Labour candidate Deborah Russell posts about family "when it's relevant to my campaign".
She had used social media for years and re-purposed accounts for the campaign. Candidates who weren't on social media were not connected with the way people consumed information, she said.
Maori Party candidate Nancy Tuaine has the hashtag #TeamNancyWhanganui, which was developed with a rangatahi's encouragement. She used social media to share opinions and it was great "if you want people to get a real insight into the way you think".
Conservatives Rangitikei candidate Roy Brown said he used Facebook to post items relevant to the campaign and even "a few selfies". He said social media was how some people got their information, so it was valuable.
Not all had jumped on the bandwagon, though. Democrats for Social Credit Whanganui candidate Heather Marion Smith was not interested in social media: "I refuse to get involved in it, it's a waste of time."