National Party leader John Key appears to be winning the battle of cyberspace, with almo
Mr Key began his Facebook page in mid-February, and by yesterday had attracted 3302 supporters.
In comparison, Miss Clark, whose page was initiated by a supporter six months ago, had gathered 1164.
Despite the larger number of Facebook supporters, Mr Key said he did not know whether the social networking site reflected current poll results, which place him ahead of the Prime Minister.
"There's no way of knowing whether one reflects the other, but we are obviously sensing a mood for change in New Zealand," he said.
Analysts have pointed to a growing role for Internet-based communications strategies in political campaigns.
Associate Prof Jim Tully, of the University of Canterbury's political science and communication department, said social networking sites were becoming increasingly important as New Zealand elections had become more presidential in style. .
"Parties are moving away from speaking on the corner and in halls to this more presidential style," he said.
Placing an emphasis on leadership, Facebook and other social networking sites were a direct way of communicating with not only Internet-savvy young people, but also the large number of New Zealanders overseas, he said.
The increased numbers of supporters on Mr Key's site were due to National's realising the potential of the Internet as an effective means of communication and was not a reflection of poll results, Prof Tully said.
Mr Key said the potential of social networking sites such as Facebook was important.
"It's a thriving community, growing rapidly, and a lot of them are very interested in politics. We're reaching out to that group."
A spokeswoman for Miss Clark said supporters "were keen to set up the site and the Prime Minister thought it was a good idea, particularly for communicating with younger people".
Miss Clark had no other social networking site and was "too busy" to check her Facebook site.
The reason Mr Key's supporters outnumbered Miss Clark's on Facebook was simple, her spokeswoman said.
"Her pages are maintained by supporters and volunteers, not by paid staff who are able to spend time recruiting others."
Mr Key, who lists his views as "moderate" on the site, confirmed one of his communication staff monitored his other social networking sites, including the video-sharing website YouTube and the photo-sharing website Flickr.
Social networking sites "including Facebook, are a great way of taking our message to Kiwis living overseas", he said.
More than 70 million people visited Facebook in April this year, and politicians were increasingly using the free-access site as a way to campaign.
Prof Tully told the Otago Daily Times a group from Canterbury University was researching the use of the Internet during this year's general election.
