"It's the next step beyond emailing someone or creating a website where people can give responses on a survey," he said. "It's a lot more genuine, I think."

Parker, , said his current political campaign relies heavily on technology and the use of social media.

"There is a dramatic difference between 2003 when I ran as a candidate, and 2010," he told . "To me, what I find most interesting is the level of engagement that is generated by the new social media and crowd-sourced sites."

However, the Greens candidate warned his fellow politicians that while they may be using social media, use of any sites must foster a discussion between the local community and its leaders.

"If someone [a politician] does tweet, or does go through a crowd source site or some other form of media and you don't respond, it's a very powerful message about whether the person is paying attention or not," he said.