Gordon Brown’s YouTube message on MPs’ expenses has been watched only 4,000 times. By contrast, the video of him picking his nose has been watched 630,000 times and the video of the Tory MEP Daniel Hannan haranguing him in the European Parliament has attracted more than two million hits.

The Prime Minister’s woeful viewing figures can be seen as a symptom of his difficulties with the internet. His performance in the expenses video, notably his awkward smile and disconcerting body movements, have been widely mocked.

Not, however, on the official Downing Street YouTube portal, where viewer comments have been disabled. For although the stated aim of the exercise is to speak directly to voters, it seems that No 10 seems less keen to have the voters talk back. A No 10 spokeswoman said that this was necessary because moderating offensive comments would be too arduous. “In terms of allowing people to comment online, we need to adhere to the Civil Service code: no content on the website can be party-political. We would need to monitor and moderate all comments posted online.”

She denied that the Prime Minister’s low viewing figures were a sign that he had failed to come to terms with the internet. “We have changed our approach. It is right that the PM gets his message across new channels and engages with the public in ways that suit them, in addition to using traditional outlets.” Downing Street has a plethora of platforms. Aside from the YouTube channel, started under Tony Blair in 2007, it has a Twitter feed, a Facebook page and an e-petitions site, on which voters can lobby the Prime Minister. It also posts photographs on the Flickr picture-sharing website Paul Staines, who is author of the Guido Fawkes political blog, said that Downing Street was playing into the hands of Mr Brown’s detractors by trying to conquer the internet.

“They put a load of pictures of him up on Flickr,” he said. “Every Friday morning I scan through the photos on there and find the most stupid one I can. You can just use it to make him look like even more of an idiot.”

Staines, who revealed the e-mail smears that brought down Damian McBride, Mr Brown’s former adviser, said: “All in all, do they really think they are going to win over one extra voter with this stuff? All interaction is another way of people saying they hate you. People on the internet feel a lot braver than when they are face to face with you.”

The e-petitions website, launched in 2006, has proved to be a headache for the Government, with people more likely to use it to petition for Jeremy Clarkson to be made prime minister than to save their local school. The eighth most popular petition of the moment, with 17,665 signatures and counting, asks Mr Brown to do just one thing: resign.