Q: I’m a recent graduate and I’m doing research for an upcoming job interview. The job role is for an online community specialist. I would really appreciate any interview advice you could give me for this role.

A: I suggest the way to impress is by leading a social media life. Using lots and lots of networks and understanding forums and communities is essential and moving beyond the usual suspects that "everyone" uses makes sense. If I was interviewing you, I’d Google you first to see what you’ve been doing. If I couldn’t find you at all on the web, I’d be miffed.

Here are some suggestions:

Absolutely have a great LinkedIN profile. Get all the bells and whistles going on there and use it as a hub for other things you’re doing online. Start to Twitter to.

Can you get up and running as a blogger? WordPress is easy to get started with and Tumblr is even easier. I don’t think it really matters what you blog about as long as you show your talents off and come across as dynamic and willing to have a go.

Start using some of the less well-known social media and online community sites out there. Live it. Last.fm, for instance, if you’re a muso. Review things on Yelp or Qype. There are squillions to choose from. I think to be convincing as a candidate that being active on 5 sites is a fair minimum.

Also, examine different online communities out there. Don’t concentrate on what’s cool and trendy. Remember that one of the biggest online communities in Britain is moneysavingexpert.com. SocMed people may sneer, but ask yourself what Martin Lewis is doing right. He has an amazing community there.

Also, can you manage a community yourself if you aren't already? LinkedIn allows you to build groups and also sites such as Yahoo help you build your own online community. That would give you practical experience and, I think, make you a stronger candidate. I certainly wouldn't hire someone who hadn't been proactive in taking on an online community in some way. If you take photographs, try Flickr and start a group.

And try and keep abreast on what’s new. There are also loads of brilliant people out there to follow and learn from. As a first start I’d suggest Blaise Grime-Viort’s blog and Twitter stream.

The idea sprang from the Brighton Future of News group. Spearheaded by the pioneering Online Editor of the Brighton Argus Jo Wadsworth, with Sarah Marshall and Steve Bustin, the map is a collaborative experiment to share the political conversations candidates have with voters in the relative privacy of the doorstep and away from the prying eyes of the media.

It’s a good idea and I wouldn’t be surprised if the aim was to expose possible discrepancies between what candidates say publicly and ‘privately’: that’s a good thing. We’re not yet 24 hours into the experiment and what do we see?

When the map was first published the Greens had a tiny handful of flags (3?) and a party apparatchik has spent some time in the past day adding those little green flags. Tory candidate Charlotte Vere told me on Twitter that her ‘flag count’ grew because she was “just including the points from my own map.” Labour candidate Nancy Platts has only used Twitter to add her red flags.

Can the best efforts of a local newspaper experimenting with social media, keen to report one of the most fascinating electoral races in the country, usefully shape a tight run race? I do hope so. If 2010 is the first ‘social media’ General Election, a map such as this with genuine input from voters represents a fine way for people to raise issues and offer perspectives on the campaigns. Politics isn’t just about broadcasting, I venture. It’s a conversation.

So far, from what I’ve seen, nobody unrelated to the three local campaigns has contributed to the Argus map. That’s a real shame.

As I have often said to businesses large and small over the years, the social media secret is letting go. Give up control and let other people chart the course of your journey. Even to someone like me involved in politics, this map shouldn’t be yet another channel we use to skew the discussion by showing how omnipresent and marvellous the parties are. It must be an opportunity to listen. Let’s follow the roadmap rather than draw it. Just for once.

This map will be all the more informative and intriguing if the party people leave it alone and ensure it’s a forum and outlet for the people that matter to express a view. I think we should let democracy breathe. I’m looking forward to day two… and three… and beyond…

Disclosure: I am a rank and file member of the Labour Party in Brighton Pavilion. These ain't nobody’s views but my own.