#9 – Has the Internet revolutionized political campaigns today?

In the past, information with regards to political campaign were distributed via the news on television or newspapers. Today, aside from these traditional mediums, timely information can be found on websites of news agencies and disseminated via social networking sites or micro blogging sites. Whenever anyone mentioned a successful political campaign using the Internet, Barack Obama’s name is almost usually included.

In the past, aside from rallies, print and television commercials were also used to garner support. The video below is taken from a television commercial for 1952 political campaign in United States of America.

Today, audio, video and pictures are still being used. Aside from being catchy, other influential figures are also lending their support to the cause. One great example is the video in support for Obama’s campaign by singers in America. As reported, the Obama campaign had no role in the video. Check the link below for more details.

From the description above, we can tell that the Internet today plays an integral part in political campaigns. The question now is how has the Internet revolutionized political campaigns today?

Firstly, advertising is no longer restricted to traditional media. Today, almost every campaign uses social advertising to get their message across. Social advertising is important because of its wider reach and specific targeting.

Next, utilizing social networking sites on the Internet help to disseminate information in a timely manner and enhance interaction. Most common social networking/micro blogging sites adopted are Facebook and Twitter. Here representatives or the individual themselves can share latest updates and also interact with the users. One great example would be taken from the local context, during the latest election in Singapore. To connect and reach out to young voters, Nicole Seah who was representing the Workers Party for a seat in the Marine Parade GRC in the 2011 Singapore General Elections, utilized Facebook to update her activities as well as views that concerned her during the elections.

Today, political campaigns also uses multimedia on the Internet to disseminate information in interesting and engaging manner. The article by NY Times below showed how multimedia on the Internet played a role in the latest elections. In a country where there are 900,000 local users on Twitter and three million Singapore members on Facebook, the Internet is the new approach to garner interest and support.

The Internet has changed the ways people do things and political campaigns is one example where Internet has made an impact on. Today, social advertising has been utilized to reach readers in a timely and engaging manner utilizing multimedia on the Internet. An issue where many youths were generally apathetic to have been given a renewed interest with a newer approach to reach these target audience. So what do you think about political campaigns today? Has the Internet changed your views on politics making you pay more attention to it?