I would just like to throw a little something out there. Campaigning online, as opposed to on the radio or television is extremely cheap and many times free! It does cost money to maintain websites and put up electronic advertisements, however, it is free to make profiles/ pages on Facebook and upload videos onto to YouTube. The amount of money the candidates raised does not even compare to the amount they spent campaigning on the web. And also (!) many voters enjoyed the free campaigning on social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Myspace even more!
"In the first quarter of 2007 alone, presidential hopefuls as a group spent $2.5 million on Internet services, including staff and technology. That’s nothing compared with TV -- candidates are expected to spend $2 billion to $3 billion in the 2008 elections on TV ads. But, the return on investment with the Internet is impressive. With $2.5 million in Internet spending, candidates have already earned $25 million to $30 million in online fund raising." -Dave Ross, September 5, 2007
1994: Senator Dianne Feinstein of California launches the first campaign Web site.
1996: In a televised debate, presidential candidate Bob Dole gives the wrong address for his Web site.
1998: Ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura uses e-mail to rally support for his surprise victory as Minnesota governor.
2000: Presidential hopeful John McCain proves that the Web is a powerful fund-raising tool.
2002: Millions of Americans turn to the Web as their primary source of political information.
2004: Presidential candidate Howard Dean uses blogs and social networking sites like Meetup.com to launch a sweeping grassroots campaign.
2006: Internet video becomes an integral part of campaign sites.
2007: Every presidential candidate has a MySpace and Facebook page.
Reference
How Campaign Communication Technology Works By Dave Ross
I think this avenue of campaigning is going to be used much more in the next election. We are a generation of instant gratification and the internet gives us that. The problem is with that instantanious gratification, we often times take the information to be "truth". That is where we have to be careful and pay attention to the facts nad not take info. that is "easy" as always correct.
ReplyDeleteOnline campainging proved to be extremely effective for Obama. He was able to have a tremendous impact on the younger generation of voters - the age reage that is most often overlooked. I'm sure candidates in the future will take his lead and continue to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very beneficial for politicians to campaign online, especially on social networking sites. I feel politicians are reaching out to a younger crowd by having a MySpace and Facebook. The dates you have provided puts into perspective how campaigning online has changed as new communication technologies have evolved.
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I agree that online advertising is definitely cheaper than traditional media, however I think this is something that's going to change, especially as firms realize that the market for political advertising is more than just TV and print media.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely not something that's going away, and needs to be paid attention to.