OTTAWA - Like universal suffrage and television, Twitter is changing the political landscape.

U.S. President Barack Obama's election victory and the revolutions in Iran are often cited as proof that collaborative media technologies can play a role in world events.

But when it comes to the influence that the microblogging site has on Canadian federal politics, there's little proof it can be more than a new playground for the chattering classes.

"It hasn't changed (politics) radically but what it has done is it's opened it up," said Mark Blevis, an associate vice-president at communications firm Fleishman Hillard.

"It's made the political discourse more accessible."

No politician has been more accessible online in 2010 than federal Industry Minister Tony Clement.

With about 6,500 followers and more than 2,000 tweets since he joined the site in March, he's considered a star.

Social media give politicians a chance to lift the veil a bit on their life, said Monte Solberg, a former Tory MP who was one of the first to use Twitter's ancestor -- blogs -- as a way to reach out.

"Tony has found a really good balance between giving people an insight into the personal and also being pointedly political or making his point when he has to," said Solberg.

"It's because he has a balance that he's successful."

But Clement's comfort with the site might not mean much if he wasn't in charge of two hot-button issues this year -- the long-form census and copyright reform.

Communities connected to both groups were already active online and would have been carrying out their debates and campaigns with or without an active minister.

That he engaged won him political points, but only among those with political points to mete out.

Most of those who follow politicians on Twitter are people already engaged in politics, suggested Tamara Small, the head of the political science department at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B.

"Twitter is only useful to people who care about Twitter," she said.

"Lots of Canadians care about Twitter but they don't care about politics."

Small, who examined the role Facebook played in the 2008 Canadian federal election, said that social networking isn't as politically necessary in Canadian politics.

With less of an emphasis on financing compared with the U.S., social networking isn't as useful for raising money. In many cases, it doesn't give parties access to anything more than they already have for fundraising purposes.

It can help shape a politician though, said Solberg.

The simple fact Clement is on Twitter continues to keep his profile high. Others point out that, come election time, if a constituent was searching for him, the first thing they might see is his Twitter feed.

"I think social media can pretty clearly help define people, you can define yourself," said Solberg.

"And of course the other side of it is people will try and define you."

Blevis, who wrote a report earlier this year on Twitter and the House of Commons said what MPs haven't figured out yet is how to use the site during an election campaign.

So far, that's only been successful at the municipal level.

During the recent slew of municipal elections across Canada, several candidates used Twitter both to push out their own messages and listen to voters.

"Until there is some sort of personality put back into politics, then we are going to see declining turnout in elections," said Blevis.

"Twitter is not going to shift the tide but it is going to be one of many ways in which the tide might shift."

What parties need to think about, suggested Blevis, is how to translate old technology like lawn signs -- which are a constant indicator of political support -- to the online world.

A simple "I'm voting for Bob" status update doesn't having the staying power of a sign or button, nor do single "get out the vote" style tweets.

Political strategist Tim Powers said Twitter has definitely helped the public connect better with politicians, but there is a downside.

"It is also dangerous terrain for a politician who is trying to be too clever by half," he said.

The potential for a campaign misstep going viral in a matter of seconds on Twitter is real.

Even innocuous comments, like the one Heritage Minister James Moore made about the Vancouver Canucks being Canada's hockey team, can unleash waves of criticism.

That's why Powers said the site is more likely to be seen as a way to do intelligence gathering in real time in the next federal election.

"Do you draw up specific vote mobilization strategies for Twitter? I don't necessarily think so," he said.

"But I think you do have communications people with plans and strategies to manage Twitter conversations and Flickr all these other wonderful mediums where people get themselves in trouble."