The Internet and Political Campaigns - Example

Name: Institution: Title: Online Campaign Report Professor: Course: Date: Introduction Media reflects the society and relays its image vividly. In the recent years it has become a tool employed to nature our culture. The foundation of the mass media is promotions via adverts among others. Through this social consequences are put into effect in the long run. The linking of communication gargets that is the internet is arguably the most amazing technological breakthrough of the twentieth century. Consequently it has transformed the mode of communication, access to resources and the society’s response to both political and social issues that mainly affect us. In this case the internet has shaped the political atmosphere in various nations in the world. Through this the environments where public opinions are shaped have been transformed utterly. Thus it rather seems intuitive that using the internet during electoral procedures yields political gains (Drew & Weaver, 2006 pp. 25-42). Objectives The E-campaigns and E-Elections in conjunction with the internet have transformed the face of running of office of any political seat. In the contemporary world running for top seats such us the president is rated one of the most contested seats. With this in mind implementation of certain rules becomes an uphill task. The initiation of the internet has provided a completely new and easy way of running politics. This report scrutinizes the observable fact of online politics, effects and its evolvement during the recent past to date. On the other hand the report aims to define the functions of the society in the computer-generated age, through focusing on the latest trends of web based communications and interlinking tools such as teleconferencing that is video sharing. These trends have shown significant scopes in their existence. Moreover, the report focuses on how the internet has so far created a new rule book for running elections (Thad, 1 June 2009 pp. 76). Discussion During the past years the internet was meant for specific personnel for instance the military. However today the internet has gone mainstream, this was especially experienced during the 1990s. Therefore recent surveys depict that the internet is the best ever growing resource that is in the political arena. For instance approximately 55% of the Americans use the internet regularly and over 70% of them having the access to internet facilities and resources. Thus most of the campaigns are investing billions in launching and developing websites and using diagnostic tools or rather specialized application to study the spectrum of supporters, the beleaguer audience, define the public opinions of the society and moreover raise funds for campaign expenditures. This is because high-speed internet has been highly invested on and hence decreased prices for access and development of domestic computers ownership have escalated the usage of the net (Underwood, 2003). Campaigns have a variety of ideas in gaining grassroots support however through the development of the internet luring of supporters has gone high tech. use of internet services for instance electronic mail, social networking software and emerging new technologies are very efficient, easy to understand and provide an easy way to mobilize supporters. The internet is proclaimed to change the face of political campaigns. Empirical Evidence: Jean-FranÁois, (1984) avers that the internet provides a two way infrastructure that allows communication. In this event anyone can connect to the internet, systematize, and contribute to a massive amount of other notions and views. Usage of web one can structure out forums, blogs and enhance debates electronically between the eligible candidates, supporters, volunteers and campaign staff as evidenced during the previous US election. The comprehension of communication is the vital asset for a politician arsenal. Therefore healthy knowledge of the future of communication is the surreptitious mace that makes the obscure war front horizon clear. For instance President Barrack Obama has grasped his campaign strategy through the embracement of the Web 2.0 using it as the core tool for his campaigns. He is seen to be progressing digitally form YouTube to social networking sites and sailed into Web 2.0, which completely changes the face of the political digital campaigns. The Barrack phenomena During the 2008 campaigns Barrack Obama now US president raised $31 billion beating the money machine employed by Clinton by $10 million during the primary race. On the other hand about 258,000 people contributed towards his bid for presidency. Hence he went towards viral campaign strategies. Thus through fueling his campaigns by adapting social community such as My-space and Face-book he engulfed more supporters. He then was characterized by his aggressiveness by tapping the social networking community and leveraging the financial potential of thousands of donors. This technique was advantageous since it is quick, cost effective and very aggressive towards the political novices rather than using lump sum checks. The internet have developed special tools which allows donors use their credit cards to automatically contribute cash through easy-to-budget for as little as $20 ( Tumulty, July 05 2007 pp. 2 - 6). In this course which is unfolding the internet full blossom is seen both financially and socially providing support for the candidate. The McCain way In the dawn of 21st century the republican presidential primary that is John McCain structured a framework of vital grassroots internet subsequent and gained lots from the internet based donations. This led to his triumphant end in New Hampshire primaries. The campaign team did not have enough finances to boost its campaigns. Therefore, they tried to spread the message without spending a lot while covering a multitude of people. The team was led by Rebecca Donatelli Campaign solution president at that time. When the candidate did not clinch the top seat some of the expectations of the interconnectivity also were jeopardized Donatelli (19 November 2003). At a time characterized by this similarity, election for the former president Gorge Bush and Al Gore also launched websites in order to receive online donations, ideas and opinions from different supporters. However this did not mean that their conventional campaigns were doomed but the internet was an added advantage. Dean’s internetization online campaigns During the 2003 elections Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean launched a cutting age internet campaign. His approached showed how the internet could be utilized as a very effectual strategizing tool. He thus through the internet formed an untraditional campaign which entailed creation of campaign blogs, mass electronic mail list of followers, employing and encouraging forums and applications such Meetup.com and Dean-Link to organize and promote the existence of campaign rallies. The technology assisted Dean to contribute more than any other democratic candidate and recruited over 500,000 supporters. This was as a result of lessons learnt from the past internet campaigns; hence Dean incorporated it with different ideas. This was then a tool to rapidly reach the supporters and enhance communication to the grassroots supporter who could otherwise not be reached without this. Dean created the biggest buzz and gaining a significant percentage of media attention (Bolton, 8 October 2003). UK online The internet progressively continues to boom within public scene. Statistics vary drastically depending on the source of information. For instance the UK population now frequently accesses the internet either from home or work among others. It has in this way become more likeable to extend that it is used for research, launching campaign strategies and carry out surveys. Though online campaigns in the UK are far from reaching the US during the 2008 elections it is used to keep one updated of the ongoing activities. For instance campaigns such as “I voted” used in face-book is available in the UK and has a mass of users. The application brings one up to date with news feeds, share the news and counter for online voters. Moreover, social sites such twitter mash-up is used to draw maps used in plotting campaign strategies (Lazaro, August 24, 2011). These tools relay the opinions of different citizens. ExitPol.ly which allows one to identify their constituency and fill-up required details then it will ensure a good campaign. Challenges Therefore it is relevant to design an internet system which addresses all campaign requirements hence the major challenge. The system should in this way be 100% infallibility in which traditional voting process fall far from this scenario. Traditional voting processes are prevalent of various phases of fraudulent activities for instance fake voter registration, distortion of ballot papers, electrical faults of the system and mass propaganda. Therefore the creation of a highly enhanced E-voting system is adversely technical. Recent surveys in the computing world relay that this is very hard task for the system to fulfill all the vital requirements. However, theoretically all these needs could be met. E-elections and E-campaigns are a highly debated issue in the political circles. For instance there is a looming fear of deceitful behavior through the inclusion of the societies’ less voiced people that is the youth. When one is online acquisition of misleading information and alteration of web content is easy without the related party knowing about it. Moreover, the social networks used are used to raise money not meant for the desired purpose (Jean-FranÁois, 1984). Significance Fast: The internet makes it fast to act in response events which is draw through rapid electronic mail updates. Therefore leaflets do not have to be printed and circulated. The audience is then able to react in a simple and swift manner through just clicking and responding to the related webpage. Cost effective and dynamically big Once one is online it is quite cheap and simple to send and receive mails to thousands of people in different spatial regions. Global campaigns are effectively done via the web as the affected individuals frequently use web services. This hence complements face-to-face campaign techniques (Fry, 2011 pp. 11 - 16). Recommendation Through the use of technology the technological community should develop a wire-friendly campaign and philosophy. By this they would have provided a lee-way of open-source programs and engulfing volunteers who would bring into light other new ideas of developing of an effective campaign technology. The technology should easily reach to the targeted audience, should be likeable and be easily absorbed into the society. The technology should also embrace two way open source campaign outlining new political philosophies to improve today’s political processes. Embracement of group-mind is encouraged rather than lone-mind (Underwood, 2003). Conclusion Online campaigns assist the commissions associated with electoral task to promote and protect the interest of the electorate. Thus the internet provides the voters by provision of new and easily accessed resources which will ensure informed decisions are made. In this event the commission and the campaigners should provide valid and trustworthy information. Hence structuring and designing efficient strategies should be upheld to for electorates and campaigners have a mutual benefit. A level plain field and platform for free airing of views should be provided in which any restrictive regulatory are limited. Therefore a balance should be struck between the requirement to protect the integrity of democratic processes and encouragement of interactive political procedures. Thus any restrictive measures should be in the best interest of the voter. Development in the online process is highly needed for further transitions of the future’s campaign environment. Policies should consequently be implemented to ensure it safeguards campaigners and voters during political activities. Bibliography Bolton, A. 8 October 2003 Dem Presidential Rivals Suffer ‘Growth Pains’ Chasing Dean, The Hill. Donatelli, R. 19 November 2003 The Internet and Political Campaigns- What Impact Will it Have in 2004? Symposium at John Hopkins University, Washington, DC. Drew, D. a. 2006 Voter Learning in the 2004 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter? Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 83.1 , 25-42. Fry, E. 2011 Strong Press, Strong Democracy, Columbia Journalism Review , 10-15. Hall, T. 1 June 2009 Electronic Elections in a Politicized Polity, Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project , Working Paper 76. Jean-FranÁois, L. 1984 The Postmodern Condition, Brian Massumi et al, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Lazaro, A. August 24, 2011 The Perfect Online Marketing Campaign, The Pricing Journal . Panagopoulos, C. 2007Online Fund-Raising and Contributors in the 2004 Presidential Campaign, Social Science Computer Review 25.4 , 484-93. Poor, N. 2005 Mechanisms of an online public sphere: The website Slashdot, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(2), article 4. , 20 – 42. Tumulty, K. 2007, July Thursday Obama's Viral Marketing Campaign, Retrieved November Tuesday, 2011, from The Magazine U.S. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640402,00.html Underwood, J. M. 2003, 08 07 The Internet as a public sphere, Retrieved 11 03, 2011, from Online Campaigns: http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/media/internet4.html. Read More