As we all know now that Web 2.0 has offered many applications and services that allows the online community to create and share information with ease. There is an increasing number of people leaving the traditional media to go online to get their information, their daily transactions, and to be entertained. About 71.1% of the 334 million American citizens uses the Internet and that is a 120% growth from the year 2000. Youths and young working adults make up these numbers.
The politicians know this. They also know that for them to garner more votes from the younger generation they have to turn to the media that they use most, which is the Internet. The Internet and Web 2.0 has added more avenues for politicians to turn their campaigning efforts too, in addition to the traditional media of television, radio and print.
In the recent political US campaigns between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, they have utilised the Internet to great efficiency and have set the tone for future election campaigns in the years to come. I will highlight their campaigning strategies on the Internet and comment on its efficiency.
Internet Homepage
Both Clinton and Obama have their own Internet homepage for their supports or would-be supports to get more information on the politician. Listed below are the links to their respective websites.
Both websites incorporate picutres and links to other pagess detailing information on their upcoming campaigns, the number of states won so far in the Primaries, and issues they have talked about so far. It is also a place where fellow supports can come together to share their views, opinions and help out in the campaigning effort by volunteering or donating.
Blogs
On their individual websites, there is a link to their official blog which is maintained by the campaign support team and talks about how the campaigning went in certain states, to announce where the politician will be next to campaign in which state, comment on news about the campaigning and much more.
Pictures are posted to keep the supporters in the loop of the events supporting the campaign. However, this is more of Obama’s blog that features more pictures than compared to Clinton. This is the same for videos; Obama has more videos on his blog than compared to Clinton.
More links to various newspapers, or pages to vote are sprinkled liberally in blog posts to direct viewers to the pages that need their action or to let them read more on certain information.
Social Networking
With the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, the candidates are also jumping on the bandwagon to reach out to their supporters. Using this technology, they are able to reach out to the younger supporters on a platform that is more familar to them. These sites allow them to “come down” to their supporters and be looked upon like a normal human being, rather than a figurehead that is remote and distant. For example, the sites allow the candidates to put their dislikes, likes, feelings about a certain topic; making them sound just like you and me, allowing supporters to relate to them.
Here is Clinton’s MySpace site, and here’s Obama’s Facebook site. Look at it and see what I mean.
Youtube
Joining another Internet bandwagon, the candidates have posted up their own videos on Youtube. Youtube recieves millions of views each day. Not only can viewers just view the video, they can add it to their favourites, rate it and share it. This ensures that the political candidates ideas and views will be widely known to all.
Youtube has dedicated a page to the political elections - “Face the Candidates - You Choose” Listed on this page is all the videos on Youtube that is about the current political scene; the broadcasts on television, the many media coverages of the election, and personal commentaries on the candidates.
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As you can see, the Internet platform is beginning to be the new frontier for political campaigns in the years to come. This is especially true when there is an increasing amount of people going online and helping the Internet to grow. Who knows? A few years down the road, maybe voting will be done electronically, online!
References
Pew Internet & American Life Project - The Internet Gains in Politics http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/234/report_display.asp
North America Internet Usage Stats and Population Statistics http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm
YouTube - You Choose http://www.youtube.com/youchoose
Barack Obama - Homepage http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
Hillary Clinton - Homepage http://www.hillaryclinton.com/?splash=1
Barack Obama - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/barackobama?q=barackobama&ref=ts
MySpace.com - Hillary Clinton http://www.myspace.com/hillaryclinton
