If you think the provincial election campaign is being fought on doorsteps, in town halls and during debates - think again.
You can get a front row seat to all of the action by sitting right in front of your computer screen. Laurel clark takes a look at how social media is shaping the parties' campaigns.
The controversial tweet about the wild rose leader was seen across the country.
A former p-c volunteer asking:
"If Danielle likes young and growing families so much, why doesn't she have children of her own?"
It prompted Danielle Smith to say she has tried to conceive and offered all parties a lesson in how a single tweet can hijack campaign messaging.
"I think that we continually deal with the challenges of social media and it was a good reminder as to what the risks are.”
Global's Online Election Coordinator Karen Unland says the former Tory staffer's tweet distracted from the issues and gave other parties' ammunition. She says it shows social media can hurt political parties as much as it can help them.
"The parties have to take the bad with the good and, like I said, try to cultivate a culture of civility and responsibility and then let the people go because they can’t control it, it’s just going to happen.”
But party leaders do have control of how much they engage online says social media expert Karl Kovacs.
Kovacs says leaders who personally interact on sites like twitter and Facebook appear transparent and are more effective reaching voters.
"You'll gain their trust by doing it that way. Others that are just posting the same message across all platforms, like a news release, that's not being personal. That's just using the platform to get out a message."
However it is used, social media has made it virtually impossible for parties to filter all messaging.
Take the case of the former Tory volunteer's tweet. While her account may be gone, the topic is still trending.
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