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While candidates are watching the polls, they’re going after different numbers, too — their Twitter followers and Facebook fans.

Just a few years ago, the idea of campaigning in 140 characters or less was unheard of. Now the popular microblogging website Twitter and other social media outlets have become political mainstays.

Just look at the two leading contenders for the U.S. Senate seat from Missouri.

Republican Roy Blunt has more than 7,700 Twitter followers who can see photos from campaign stops, calls for volunteers and shout-outs to the Missouri football team.

On Facebook, Democrat Robin Carnahan posts videos of ads and personal stories from volunteers, with links to her campaign website. She has more than 18,600 Facebook fans.

In the 2010 elections across the country, including Kansas and Missouri, social media are playing an important role — not necessarily to drum up votes but to build coalitions of supporters and bring in donations.

“Social media provides influence and it provides dollars,” said Brent Beshore, founder of the Columbia-based Pure Marketing and Media. “But as far as getting people out to vote, social media’s not a major driving factor right now.”

That doesn’t mean that a campaign tool still in its infancy won’t someday be used to drive much more of the vote. But for now it’s already become the hallmark of a 21st-century campaign.

Nearly all major party candidates running this year have websites, a given for some time. Most now have Facebook and Twitter accounts. They post videos to YouTube and they are starting blogs.

Social media have proved an easy way to integrate supporters into the campaign and make them feel they’re making a difference.

“It enables you to feel like you’ve got the power to influence the future of the country,” Beshore said, noting that it was easier to tweet your support — letting all your followers see it — than to go door-to-door in a cold rain.

Still, candidates use social media differently.

One of the signatures of Roy Blunt’s Twitter account (@RoyBlunt) is that the candidate is in the driver’s seat.

“People who are interested in this campaign want to know that the information they’re receiving is coming directly from Roy Blunt,” said Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer.

Carnahan spokesman Linden Zakula said Carnahan (@RobinCarnahan) did not tweet much personally, but the campaign used Twitter to rally supporters.

“Our goal is to be accessible to them and then to get them engaged and invested in the campaign,” he said.

Blunt leads in Twitter followers — Carnahan has 2,445. She is closer to Blunt on Facebook, where Blunt has about 22,000 fans.

Blunt has a smartphone application that provides alerts and news updates. Carnahan has a site tailored to mobile browsers.

Both candidates post videos to YouTube, where Blunt’s campaign channel has nearly double the views of Carnahan’s channel. Blunt’s congressional channel adds more views.

“Roy Blunt is broadcasting more loudly and more persistently,” said Aaron Weber of Spiral16, an Overland Park Internet monitoring company. “Roy Blunt is doing a better job of talking about Robin Carnahan online than Robin Carnahan is.”

But Carnahan staffers said the numbers did not tell the story. Carnahan aims for deeper relationships and more conversation online so that supporters will be moved to work for her, they said.

But online, talk on social media is not limited to just the candidates’ official efforts. With the ability to repost messages built into the Facebook and Twitter architecture, anything someone says has the potential to go viral, shaping a candidate’s image on the Web.

Take Blunt’s political director Dan Centinello — @centinello — a voracious Twitter user. He posted a tweet several months ago labeling Carnahan’s campaign as the “worst campaign ever.”

The off-the-cuff slogan, not a formal part of Blunt’s campaign, has taken hold. Now, supporters and even some other Missouri politicians, are attaching that tag to their criticisms of the Carnahan camp.

But social media users might not be the people Carnahan needs to reach to win, some said.

“You have to target people in ways that they are comfortable and familiar with,” said Mitchell McKinney, who teaches courses in political communication at the University of Missouri.

The people comfortable with talking politics online might not be the same people who turn out in a midterm election, McKinney said. Carnahan needs to reach some urban blocs that might not plug into politics online.

But someday that could change.

Twitter and Facebook are not the “right now” of driving votes online, but they will be powerful players in the future — perhaps as soon as the 2012 elections, Beshore said.

To reach Juana Summers, call 816-234-4366 or send e-mail to jsummers@kcstar.com.