digital politics
TRANSCRIPT
Digital Politics
Trends 2012
“The power to coordinate otherwise dispersed groups will continue to improve; new social tools are still being invented, and however minor they may seem, any tool that improves shared awareness or group coordination can be pressed into service for political means, because the freedom to act in a group is inherently political.”
- Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody (2008)
What are some of the trends you are seeing in the world of ‘digital’ politics today?
Online Fundraising
• 2004 Presidential election– Kerry collected $82 million between
March and the end of July; Bush raised $17 million (Vaccari 2008)
• 2008 Presidential election– Obama raises an estimated $500
million online (Huffington Post, 2011)
• 2012 ...to be determined– Will the SuperPACs derail
grassroots campaigns?
“Friendraising”
• Votizen is a new social network for voters
• The idea is to get “friend s to persuade friends” to vote versus “buying votes”
• Over 540K voters registered on Votizen
• Members can:– Connect with “voting” friends– Endorse candidates and
causes– View voting records– Express their political views
Source: Gannes, L. (2012) Votizen Gets a Celebrity Round of Funding to Connect Social Media and Politics. AllthingsD.com. Retrieved from http://allthingsd.com/20120223/votizen-gets-a-celebrity-round-of-funding-to-connect-social-media-and-politics/
Online Advertising
Increased online spending by candidates: 2012 election estimates -- somewhere between $1 and $1.5 billion, up from $177 million in 2008.
Political Parody
• “Emerging genre of political Twitter fakes”*Aka. “Fake politicians”
• Generally follow the events/activities of the real politician in order to ‘tweet in character’
• Have followers who are politically engaged
• Most are in it for the humor – believing the political impact is low
• Sometimes end up having real-life ‘interactions with their targets’
• Some targets get backlash for trying to ‘shut down’ the fakes
*Wilson, J. (2011) Playing with Politics. London, England: Sage Publishing.
* Wilson, J. (2011) Playing with Politics: Political fans and Twitter faking in post-broadcast democracy. London, England: Sage Publishing.
Online Political Satire
• Mark Fiore• 2010 Pultizer Prize Winner• Online only – political cartoon satirist
Mark Fiore “Old vs. New”
Flash Mobs• Synchronized meet-ups in the real world• Invented by Bill Wasik (Harper’s
Magazine) as ‘street performance’• At first, mostly harmless fun
• Zombie walk in San Francisco• Silent dance party @ London’s Victoria Station
• Then, entered the political sphere• Cartoonist Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) - Howard Dean flash mob in Seattle (2003)
• And, rallied people to protest– Vladimir Putin reelection “Vova
go home!” (2004)– Balurus election protest (2006)
• Protesters stood silently eating ice cream – still several were arrested
Photo courtesy of SmartMobs blog.
Political Bloggers
• Political bloggers use blogging as a means for political expression and social change
• Why they do it:*– An alternative perspective to mainstream media– Help society – Inform people – Formulate new ideas– Keep track of thoughts– Let off steam
• Impact?– 94% readers focus on views they already agree with
*Ekdale, B., Namkoong, K. , Fung, T. (2010) Why Blog? London, England: Sage Publishing.
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Extrinsic motivations
Intrinsic motivations
Truth…?!
• Factcheck.org• PolitiFact.com
Sources• Ekdale, B., Namkoong, K. , Fung, T. (2010) Why Blog?: Exploring the
motivations for blogging by popular American political bloggers. London, England: Sage Publishing.
• Gannes, L. (2012) Votizen Gets a Celebrity Round of Funding to Connect Social Media and Politics. AllthingsD.com. Retrieved from http://allthingsd.com/20120223/votizen-gets-a-celebrity-round-of-funding-to-connect-social-media-and-politics/
• Luo, M. (2008) Small Online Contributions Add Up to Huge Fund-Raising Edge for Obama. Nytimes.com. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/politics/20obama.html/
• Shirky, C. (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Kindle edition.
• Thomas, K. (2011) Barack Obama 2012 Campaign To Go Beyond Email, Text . Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28/barack-obama-2012-campaign_n_886280.html.
• Veccari, C. (2008) From the air to the ground: the internet in the 2004 US presidential campaign. London, England: Sage Publishing.
• Wilson, J. (2011) Playing with Politics: Political fans and Twitter faking in post-broadcast democracy. London, England: Sage Publishing.
• Zepeda, A. (2003) Doonesbury Cartoon Sets Up Political Rally. Komonews.com. Retrieved from http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4104521.html/
Appendix
Factoids
• 75 million Americans went online for campaign-related activities in 2004
• 52 percent went online to get information on candidates and issues
• 35 % used email to discuss politics, • 11 %(about 13 million people) participated
in online campaign activities such as making donations, signing up as volunteers, or learning about political events and rallies
(Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005).