During the last General Election there was a lot of talk about whether 2010 would be the first social media election. This was flimflam, mainly promoted by social mediariaty who really really wanted it to be true. 2010 was a modern TV election. The three leadership debates overshadowed everything else.

Social media is a fantastic tool for us political anoraks but what happens on Twitter has very little relevance to what happens away from the key board. Social media has grown the Westminster bubble, and made entry into this world easier, but the bubble still exists - signifying the separation of "politics" from mainstream consciousness.

TV leadership debates should be standard for all national elections. Television is the number one entertainment medium in the UK. The game show/competition format is one of the most popular types of programme. Politics is a competition of ideas. Politicians need to tell the widest possible audience why their world view is the best, and be willing to face challenges.

There needs to be qualification rules (maybe the debate should only be open to the parties that are polling 10% or over 3 months before the election) and the format be fair, but these are easily resolved details.

The next TV EU election leaders debate is on Wednesday 2 April, BBC2 at 7pm. Cameron and Miliband should take part and the debate be moved to BBC1. We deserve to know what our choice is on 22 May.

Nick Denys is Head of Digital at Bright Blue. These views are his own. The behind the scenes photos of yesterday's LBC debate can be found here.