THE only thing more boring than the 2016 Scottish election so far has been hearing people talk about how boring it's been. Far from the adrenaline-fuelled days of the independence referendum and the excitement at the General Election when Scotland delivered an unprecedented battering to the Labour party, the Holyrood campaign has been pretty uninspiring.

For the pro-independence folks on social media it's been a bit of an awkward one. Rather than the harmonious sharing of visions ahead of the referendum and the lingering in-it-together tone of last year's Westminster poll, the Scottish elections have been all about competing for votes.

While most in the pro-independence block are in general agreement that the SNP has the constituency vote wrapped up, the second vote has become a focal point in the absence of something more social media-friendly to talk about, and the tone has plummeted. While many of the most prolific commentators have convinced themselves that they're not for a minute telling anybody how to vote, that statement is often followed by a "but", prompting many debates which haven’t shown the independence movement in its most flattering light.

If "boring election" is the most common phrase around Holyrood 2016, "I'll be glad when this is over" must be vying for a close second.

And so the most exciting aspect of it has, unexpectedly, come from the politicians themselves. As we approach the vote, talk has switched from incessant bickering over the workings of the D'Hondt voting system (don't turn over the page yet, I'm not getting into it) to the new competition between party leaders over who can stage the most outrageous photo call.

I'm not sure whether the images of Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson riding a buffalo were an improvement on her riding a tank last year or a step down, and the footage of a delighted Willie Rennie sliding down a giant chute at a soft play area when his party's manifesto was launched will probably become the default image of the Scottish LibDem leader I carry around with me.

Some party leaders even tried their hand at the new-fangled social media technology. Scottish Ukip leader David Coburn made a point of protest at being left out of a televised leaders' debate by staging his very own broadcast using Twitter's video streaming technology, Periscope.

Of course, an army of pranksters were on hand waiting for their opportunity, and Coburn and his team spent a chunk of the event trying to fix non-existent technical problems the cheeky viewers kept complaining about.

But one of the best highlights has been the series of party leader interviews by BBC Scotland comedy character Gary Tank Commander, who skilfully managed to get SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to admit that the party had no plans in its manifesto to introduce a subsidy on Cheesey Pasta, among other things.

While we might normally all get a bit miffed that the focus turns to spoof interviews and daft photo calls, social media has been relieved at the intervention. Nothing pierces the tension like a bit of comedy.

The mood towards party leaders in the wake of it has been quite positive, having shown a more real, relaxed side to their personalities and indulged their sense of humour.

Surprisingly given her immense popularity, Nicola Sturgeon has been a bit less prolific. She has maintained an air of responsibility which the other party leaders can afford to sacrifice in the hope of tapping into what Sturgeon has already achieved with the public.

For me personally, the star of the show in this election has been Willie Rennie. From soft play areas to zip wires, he's managed to command most of the attention on social media with stunts which are both likeable and shareable.

And he wins the comedy gold award of Holyrood 2016 with his almost surreal interview on a farm, in which he explained that the LibDems wanted to send "a pictorial message" in their election campaign. It was the perfect moment for a couple of pigs in the background to steal the spotlight with their own pictorial message, which may leave BBC Scotland's future election coverage subject to the 9pm watershed.

Social media – which was credited with playing a vital role during independence referendum in particular – hasn’t performed in the same way at this election. In contrast to a Yes/No question, perhaps there are just too many factions involved and too much information to digest in a much shorter chunk of time. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be saying it six weeks ago, but thank God for Gary Tank Commander.