If you logged on to Twitter last Tuesday you might have seen the #1pound40 hashtag taking over your live feed, as journalists and others used an “unconference” at Thomson Reuters in London to debate the service’s social impact. The discussion covered a number of themes, but with a general election fast approaching the most compelling asked how Twitter can transform politics.

When asking about change, you must decide what’s wrong in the first place. People talk of a gulf between politicians and ordinary people, but in such an ambiguous way that they never pin down the real issue. So as a young person intrigued by the prospect of voting in my first general election, I’ll focus on an issue that is undoubtedly part of the problem: voter turnout.

The percentage of the UK population which bothers voting is woefully small – in 2005 it was 61.4%, four years previous it was even lower. The trend is one that comes in fits and starts depending on political climate, but as a general rule, we’re not doing terribly well at exercising our democratic right.

Could Twitter be the key to turning this around?

In short, I don’t think so, and you can see this by looking at voter turnout by constituency.

Because I know the area, let’s choose Dunbartonshire East, where 72.1% of constituents voted in 2005. Dunbartonshire West, just next door, had a turnout of 61.3%. Interestingly, East Dunbartonshire’s 2005 mean income was £26,000, while West Dunbartonshire’s was £18,900. And, to give a comprehensive picture, only 1.7% of those in East Dunbartonshire were unemployed at the time of the general election, compared to 6.4% in West Dunbartonshire.

“So what?”, you might ask. It’s hardly news that those less wealthy are less likely to vote. However, East Dunbartonshire’s MP, Jo Swinson, is on Twitter, while West Dunbartonshire’s John McFall is not.

But the comparison is false one, since the two MPs share neither age nor party persuasion. Nevertheless, it does fit a wider picture.

Statistics suggest that Twitter users are well-off, with over a third of the site’s visitors coming from households earning £50,000 or more. In addition, these numbers don’t take into account those who use third-party tools like Tweetie, which could bump that one-third up even higher.

Now, John McFall does have a website and a YouTube channel, and makes good use of both. Make no mistake, I’m not suggesting that those representing poorer constituencies should ignore social media – that would be counterproductive.

The difficulty here, however, is with the “digital divide”, and whether politicians’ use of social media in campaigning will inadvertently widen it, rather than nudge people towards the poll stations.

At #1pound40 I was at a table with two of the masterminds behind Tweetminster, and one of the co-founders told me something interesting: prospective Conservative MPs are noticeably more active on Twitter than current members.

While some might say this is the advent of a new breed of MP – one determined to resist the disconnect shown by the expenses scandal – I see it instead as an artificial humanity spearheaded by Tory HQ.

Seeming human online and actually inspiring others to vote by your humanity are two very different things, and the latter is far more important. I’m all for widening access to technology, and using it to improve the political system. But let’s not get so caught up in the Twittersphere we forget to listen to the real-life information stream.