An Edinburgh event next week will give local bloggers, political activists and 'hacktivists' a chance to debate how social media could affect the May elections.
The free Political Innovation conference will speculate the impact Twitter, Facebook and blogs will have on Scottish politics.
The debates are expected to look at the ways some political parties already use customised Twitter dashboards to monitor how their groups are being discussed online.
In advance of the event, which takes place on Saturday 13 November at the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, a Google Group has been set up for people to discuss ideas.
Organised by Northern Irish political blog Slugger O'Toole, the event aims help politicians and social media experts understand how politics is likely to change in the face of new media developments.
Organiser Paul Evans of Slugger O'Toole said:
"This event is for anyone who has ever asked themselves 'why is politics still done like this?' No matter what your allegiance is, there are lots of innovations that we can all welcome and support that could restore trust in politics and politicians – as long as politicians understand how they can work.
"This event is for people who are active in politics as much as it is for social media activists.
"We've got innovators from all over the UK who have posted ideas that they'd like to bring to Edinburgh for this event. But it is an 'unconference' event – we don't have many fixed speakers or agenda items – at our conferences, the attendees shape the event."
The event will include discussions between politicians, bloggers and journalists about the future of democracy in a networked age.
Tickets are free of charge and can be booked using this link, and the event has is on Twitter @picamp.
Are you planning on going to the event? We would love to hear from anyone keen to report back in a guest blog.
