There is no doubt that since the last presidential election that the further development of the Internet has been a major player in the changes of the election process. Even since the 2004 election, websites such as MySpace have developed into thriving social networks that help promotion, information sharing and communication needs for the candidates.
In an article from Financialtimes.com titled “Hot Button Election: How the Internet Drives the US Campaign”, the authors Kevin Allison and Richard Waters discuss the importance of the Internet to the current presidential race, in terms of the voters as well as the candidates themselves. You can find the article here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da465824-802b-11dd-99a9-000077b07658.html
The first part of the article discusses how new technologies and the Internet have helped make voter data more accessible and easy to use for the candidates and their campaign teams. The second part of the article is what I would like to focus on for this discussion: how the Internet has affected information sharing, promotion and the voting process.
The Internet has undoubtedly made it easier for the candidates to promote themselves. The article brings up several examples of this, including an anecdote about a woman who was able to find information about a party based around Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the DNC. The easy accessibility is beneficial not just for the candidate but for the voters as well because so much information is at their fingertips that they are in general more informed. While some people argue about the idea of the “digital divide” and say that not every American has access to a computer and the Internet, I would have to disagree. Lynda Lee Kaid states in the Handbook of Political Communication that “more significant to the ramifications of Internet access on political communication variables is the findings from this report that shows ’94 million American adults have Internet access’” (513). It is easy to see that this divide may not exist because of the huge boom of political websites as well as the addition of politics onto existing websites such as MySpace.
Not only are politics more prevalent on the Internet, new types of political tools have been created to help inform voters about the issues. Many news websites have created grids, graphs and other easy to use tools to help inform voters of where the candidates stand. Politicians have also been using blogs to their advantages to get their word out to their supporters and swing voters who have yet to make a decision. In addition to this, candidates can even ask you for your money online, rather than the more old-fashioned ways that have been used in the past.
I would definitely consider the Internet part of what Kaid discusses on page 397 of the Handbook, “politically relevant media”. I also think that it will become even more relevant as more politicians are given the opportunity to make use of it. In the future I think that not just presidential candidates will make use of it, but members of Congress, the Senate and individual state governments as well.
Do you use the Internet more often than other forms of media to gain political knowledge? How has the Internet affected your views on the candidates for this election?
How do you feel about the digital divide? Do you think that a divide exists in the world of political communication on the Internet today?
How do you think the Internet will affect the elections of the future and the face of politics?
2 comments:
Working in a DC political PR firm, I learned a thing or two about what the internet has to offer for the true news junkie. My name is Thomas Keith and I am a politico.com addict. Politico and its multitude of comment ready blogs from every political prospective has opened up a new world of political discussion. I guarantee there are McCain and Obama volunteers reading exactly these types of message boards specifically because of their ability to show what an average voter is thinking. Politico even makes it easier than that with Jonathon Martin covering the Republicans and Ben Smith covering the democrats you can very easily distinguish where your supporters are posting and where your detractors are posting. If a comment comes up regularly enough these boards give "neighborhood opinion leaders" the chance to vent frustration and even mend some fences. For example despite the fact that PUMA dems will be starting fights in this domain certainly until November fourth, I believe a lot of the animosity that existed between Clinton and Obama supporters was laid on the table in these kind of forums. The former rivals seeing that the majority of their constituents were voicing unity moved forward far more successfully than I would have believed 4 months ago.
The internet too has become a literal campaign contribution ATM in this election. With Obama declining the option for public financing we will finally see the full potential of the internet as a means to raise money. I believe history will be made and public financing will be made obselete. Spearheading the internet mailing list phenomenon was one time white house hopeful Howard Dean. The way he strategically used the internet both as a tool of communication and one of fundraising was the primary reason he was chosen to lead the party into a new era. Whether that was a wise decision remains to be seen.
The third and perhaps most important role of the internet in this election has been its great ability to acquire information. Obama's text message alert system is probably the best example I could imagine. Using the hype of VP selection Obama acqired invaluable information used for fundraising, demographic breakdowns, regional studies, and the list goes on. Some would say information especially in fundraising is worth its weight in gold. People put their information on the internet all the time we're unphased by it. So acquiring that information with something like a contest or a mailing list is now easier than ever before in history.
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