Yesterday, someone in the office noticed that Ed Miliband was on Google+. Now his team appear to be really going for it as he sends out invites asking for people to join him on Google’s social networking site.

I’m still not paying enough attention to Google+, but this looks like another sign that it is going to be a significant feature of social networking in the next 12 months, but piling on alone isn’t enough if the experience that people like Ed Miliband deliver isn’t authentic and is instead used another channel for publishing press comments. That isn’t social at all.

The versatility and openness it offers in comparison to Twitter and Facebook is a real bonus and it will be interesting to see how it is used by the likes of Ed Miliband and others when it comes to political campaigning.  I did look for President Obama, but I couldn’t find him.

So far the Labour leader has been put in about 1300 plus Circles, but what’s interesting is that he is getting a lot of comments on his posts. Significantly, however, the most recent post congratulating where he congratulates Helle Thorning-Schmidt, after the Danish Social Democrat Party won last night, most of the comments are debating whether it is really Miliband doing the talking:

Chris Lewis – This is not Ed talking, this is not personal or informal, this is not worth following.

David Sandilands – Dear Ed, it’s great to see you have a profile here on Google+ but there’s a noticeable level of doubt that you are personally engaged. Could we have some confirmation that we are actually talking to the Leader of the Labour Party and not just one of your aides masquerading as you?

So while it is great to see the Labour leader and his team engage enthusiastically with a new front in social media, how much is it worth if it is not really Ed doing the talking and he has little or no connection to what is happening on Google+?

Is that really a plus? Does it matter? Of course, no one expects him to do all his own tweeting and Google+ing (is there an easier way to say that?), but surely he has to do something rather than issue press statements?

All social media presence requires some authenticity as otherwise it is a waste of time. That isn’t social which by its very definition must be two way. Here’s the note that Ed is sending around:

Dear Gordon When I became Leader of the Labour Party a year ago, I said that we had to be a party that looked outwards, not just inwards.

Over the last 12 months, I’ve been working hard to live up to that, by listening and learning from people all over our country.

I’ve been talking to people in shops, factories, High Streets – and I’ve been using social media too.

Now, Google have invited me to have a profile on Google+ and I want to invite you to join me.

You already use Gmail, so the next step to keeping in touch using Google+ is easy – just add me to your circles.

If you’re not signed up yet, I have 150 invites to share and I’ll be giving them to people who respond to this email. Click here for an invite.

I hope to speak with you soon.

Ed Miliband

Leader of the Labour Party