transforming election campaigning in the digital age

Adrian Solitander +46 72 164 35 93 Fredsborgsgatan 21 [email protected] 11758 Stockholm, Sweden 7 April 2016

Transforming Election Campaigning in the Digital Age

In our current digital age, political institutions, activities and relationships are increasingly mediated and shaped by digital media and technologies (University of Oxford 2016). This paper examines the impact of digital on election campaigns and considers how the developing use of these technologies might alter traditional campaigning models. It should be of use for any political party or politician in established Western democracies who is planning an election campaign. The paper is partly based on insights from six original case studies (in Appendices A-F).

The case for change Many agree that digital technologies are transforming politics. They disagree, however, about the significance and character of that transformation. Utopian accounts predict the digital transformation of political life, with peer production and online networks enhancing political participation and technological innovation driving policy change. (Fung et al 2013; University of Oxford 2016)

But as of yet, there is little overall evidence that digital is changing the outcome of elections in any revolutionary way (Dimitrova et al 2011), even though key web 2.0 technologies are in place since many years. However, in this paper it is argued that we can see an emerging body of evidence of transformation in cases where the use of digital has made all the difference in a campaign (see eg. Cooper 2011 and Appendices A-F). Political parties and politicians that pay attention to these trends will likely be able to find increased advantages in the competition for voter attention and commitment. This is confirmed by Fung et al (2013) who, reasoning from the character of political incentives and institutional constraints, argue that revolutionary and transformative models are likely to occur in constituent mobilization.

Some key insights supporting the case for change are:

1. With currently only 10% of a campaign’s budget typically being spent on digital media compared to the time that people are spending online, the push towards digital technology is only going to increase in political campaigns. Those who are adapting to the new and emerging media and technologies will be the digital winners. (Mitchell, 2015)

2. Citizens voice their dissatisfaction through digital media. But there is a reverse side to the picture, with the possibility to translate societal demands into electoral actions with the help of digital media. (Bardi et al. 2014)

3. Voter frustration is not necessarily caused by their dislike for policies, but it is certainly provoked by their dislike for the method used to develop such policies. (Bardi et al. 2014) Digital provides an opportunity to change that method.

4. While much political information is generated between elections, it is during electoral campaigns that the information becomes visible. But there is little scientifically proven evidence of the effect of campaigns on voters. (Alvarez et al. 2014) Citizen-initiated digital and offline campaigning offer parties the chance to rebuild deeper connections into their local communities (Gibson 2013).

5. Digital lowers the costs of a) communications and allows political organizations to communicate more information to more members at a fixed cost; b) search costs and allows individuals to find the organizations that advance their interests; c) certain kinds of political action such as donating money to organizations and signing letters and petitions. (Fung et al 2013)


A future model of election campaigning In this digital age, successful election campaign organizations must use both technology and community to serve the needs of the members, a very different role from the typically self-centred campaign that sees its volunteers as serving its needs. Meanwhile, the democratization of production and ease of distribution transforms the role of the media in the political sector. (Cooper 2011) This implies shifting the campaign operating model to structured viral communication, and the voter campaign experience to viral content.

Structured viral communication Successful online organizing of constituent mobilization requires empowering the supporters to become part of the organization themselves. This means avoiding the temptation to steer movements with restrictions from central campaign figures:

Principles • Give digital tools for supporters to create or distribute messages, raise funds, promote

events, canvas voters or to start their own petition. These tools are one way of empowering, yet allowing supporters to organize as they see fit. A good digital campaign platform offering useful tools is of essence. (Gibson 2013; exemplified in Appendices D, E, F)

• Encourage the set up of local circles through the simple formation of an online group – no leadership rubber-stamping needed. Nothing more is required than the set up and use of social media group functions. (Exemplified in Appendix D, E)

• Organize the constituent mobilization in an online democratic process where everyone can contribute in a meaningful way at every stage of an open decision making process. This requires a more advanced use of online voting, verification, collaboration, petitioning etc, preferably in one ecosystem. (Exemplified in Appendix E, Illustration 1)

The role of leaders or a central hub of campaigns should take care of important marketing tasks such as strategic media outreach, real time news desk to amplify the social sharing, and have a follow up plan for successful campaigns (Exemplified in Appendix C). So while not becoming equal partners in the election enterprise, grassroots causal supporters are given a stronger ‘co-producing’ role in the campaign than has hitherto been the case (Gibson 2013).


Illustration 1: Organization of constituent mobilization (Podemos).

Viral content In digitally transformed campaigning, the extent of ordinary citizen input that occurs through their initiation and execution via digital media is remarkable. Freedom to communicate maximizes individual, and therefore social, value. The exponential explosion of viral, many-to-many communications quickly overwhelms the dominance of centrally managed traditional campaign, no matter how costly they are. (Cooper 2011)

Principles A clear call to action in social media content is important for virality. The call to action can be purely online based if it takes the form of an online social experiment or encourage simple real world action:

• Conduct online social experiments. They make people feel that a by the mere fact of writing or sharing something in social media they are making genuine change. Campaigns need to show almost instantly to online activists how their action makes real-world difference. Allowing people to share their knowledge, experiences or networks online for a cause they care about is a good starting point for social experiments. (Exemplified in Appendix A)

• Inspire people to take simple real world action. People are prone to share real world action calls in online channels. An apparent prerequisite for success is that the call to action strikes a chord with popular discontent. Validating assumptions of discontent with data points pre-campaign may increase the likelihood of success. The call to action should be


broad enough for people to interpret its intended outcome to fit their own agenda. (Exemplified in Appendix D)

Campaign offices should not primarily own online content, but create digital platforms or real world conditions for people to use their own creativity to create social media content. Traditional owned campaign material – be it digital or physical – will mainly speak to the believers and therefore has limited value:

• Enable people to share their individual stories in writing, e.g. on blogs, yet making them feel part of something bigger is one approach. Another is to encourage people to create viral visual content. One option is to let social media savvy individuals create visuals that often speak a highly opinionated visual language. Another is to create real life scenes that are friendly for any individual to photograph and share; eg. beautiful urban art or home parties in support of the campaign. (Exemplified in Appendix B, D; Illustration 2)

• Perhaps the ultimate campaign crowd sourcing method is crowd-sourcing the campaign issue itself. By creating a seemingly neutral, yet lightly curated platform where individuals can start creating messages or petitions, the campaign organizations as owners of the platform will be able to detect which issues are gaining traction. A win-win situation can be created by the platform offering some free tools and some credibility to individuals driving the campaign, whereas the platform owner can claim success and brand credibility from the most successful messages and petitions. (Exemplified in Appendix F)

Illustration 2: Viral content with highly opinionated visual language (Occupy Wall Street)


A change programme for election campaigning Shifting campaign models to structured viral communication as well as campaign content focus to genuine peer produced viral content has been done and it can be done again. And arguably it needs to be done by most parties and candidates sooner or later. As competitor campaigns start to yield success using campaign models adapted to the digital age, others must follow or run the risk of losing voters.

The main reason is voter discontent: Participation has declined substantially, especially in established democracies, with younger members of the electorate decreasingly likely to vote. In parallel anti-establishment parties, usually on the extreme right or left, are yielding success. As a result, established parties are in crisis, and the hierarchical or monolithic model of organization is declining (Bardi et al 2014).

Traditional, card-carrying membership-based parties are now a thing of the past and a transformation of the remains of party organizations by resorting to digital technology may be the only solution. Election campaigns are just one organizational face of parties (Bardi et al 2014), but offer a defined starting point.

What electoral campaigns need to do in order to enable structured viral communication and viral content can be summarized in one sentence: Strengthen organizational links with supporters. For electoral campaigns this means:

1. Use new technologies to create unmediated links to supporters.

2. Array roles and functions to meet supporter needs, giving them reason to commit time, effort and resources to the organization.

3. Adopt a loose or informal supporter network structure that lies at the heart of active citizen-initiated campaigning.

Overcoming organizational challenges is the key to success. Quoting Cooper (2011): ’The ability to communicate and exchange information is central to the ability to organize around shared interests and take collective action. Roles with identifiable permitted activities are filled according to boundary conditions where rewards induce participation and enforcement maintains appropriate behaviour. The life blood of the organization is a continuous flow of information to members about the status of the organization and behaviours to alert the members and those charged with maintaining the integrity of the organization.’

Ethical, social and privacy issues With the advent of the era of digital politics and elections, the question arises whether digital has the potential to increase the quality of democratic governance. Some political scientists who have examined actual patterns of political activity on digital platforms come away sceptical that digital platforms will bring equality or inclusion to democratic politics (Fung 2013). Indeed, there is a high risk that also a new campaigning model may simply lead to the reinforcement of existing political power relations online, i.e. those that have power and resources continue to dominate (Gibson 2013).

There is evidence that digital can mobilize people to vote. But the same evidence suggests that mobilization does not necessarily mean political learning, i.e. understanding politics. As in the era before digital, what matters more for political learning is political interest, prior political knowledge, and attention to politics in all media formats. (Dimitrova et al., 2011)

Furthermore, political scientists have for decades identified many socio-demographic characteristics that have strong impact on voting behaviour but that are difficult to influence through campaigning (Oppenhuis, 1995). The importance of factors such as gender, religion and education are not about to disappear anywhere just because of changed campaigning models.


Political campaigning therefore needs to focus on influencing psychological factors. Campaigns may want to influence the rational or irrational behaviour of voters. As ever, the campaigners’ view of the nature of the human beings whose behaviour they are aiming to influence has a very large influence on campaign strategy (Simon 1985). This fundamental moral question remains undisturbed by digital transformation.

Finally, campaigns need to be highly aware of privacy laws. Encouraging people to openly share political opinions in platforms means they leave a trace for life, and it comes with a hefty dose of legal responsibility for campaign platforms. But following rules aside, is democracy possible when everyone’s political interests are visible on Facebook? Indeed, is privacy possible when everyone’s interests are visible via their postings—and those of their friends—on online social networks? (Landau 2013) Every campaign needs to ponder how it answers these questions before transforming election campaigning in the digital age.

Bibliography Cooper, Mark N., (2011). “Structured Viral Communications: The Political Economy and Social Organization of Digital Disintermediation,” Journal on High Telecommunications and High Technology Law, 9:1, 2011.

Dimitrova, D., Shehata, A., Stromback, J. and Nord, L. (2011). The Effects of Digital Media on Political Knowledge and Participation in Election Campaigns: Evidence From Panel Data. Communication Research, 41(1), pp.95-118.

Fung, A., Russon Gilman, H. and Shkabatur, J. (2013). Six Models for the Internet + Politics. Int Stud Rev, 15(1), pp.30-47.

Gibson, R. (2013). Party change, social media and the rise of 'citizen-initiated' campaigning. Party Politics, 21(2), pp.183-197.

Landau, S. (2013). "Politics, Love, and Death in a World of No Privacy", IEEE Security & Privacy, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 11-13.

Mitchell, C. (2015). Obama for America: Winning elections by going digital. [online] Openforum.hbs.org. Available at: https://openforum.hbs.org/challenge/understand-digital-transformation-of-business/why-digital/obama-for-america-winning-elections-by-going-digital [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016].

Oppenhuis, E. (1995). Voting behavior in Europe. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.

Parker, M. and Isbell, L. (2010). How I Vote Depends on How I Feel: The Differential Impact of Anger and Fear on Political Information Processing. Psychological Science, 21(4), pp.548-550.

Simon, H.A. (1985). "Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science", The American Political Science Review, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 293-304.

Winkielman, P., Knutson, B., Paulus, M. and Trujillo, J. (2007). Affective influence on judgments and decisions: Moving towards core mechanisms. Review of General Psychology, 11(2), pp.179-192.


Appendices

Appendix A: Equalisters (Sweden)

Appendix B: Feminist Initiative Party (Sweden)

Appendix C: Always #LikeAGirl (US)

Appendix D: Occupy Wall Street (US)

Appendix E: Podemos (Spain)

Appendix F: Skiftet (Sweden)


Appendix A: Equalisters (Sweden)

Key take-away Meaningful micro-engagement: By providing a possibility to make a difference in the struggle for a more equal society by simply commenting a Facebook post, Equalisters have managed to both make the issue very concrete, and prove immediate impact of its members’ input. By providing a crowd sourced service Equalisters is driving real societal change.

Strategy Equalisters is a modern social movement (also a non-profit organization, an equality project, network, social enterprise and lobby group), which utilizes the powerful dynamics of crowdsourcing to correct the imbalances of representation in media, culture, business and other contexts – ultimately aiming to create a more democratic society by fighting the self-perpetuating cycle of underrepresentation. They do this by providing a service of long lists of people who can balance up inequalities of representation in any given context.

Tactics The organisation puts out a call through an ad on social media where they gather tips from followers of people who have the requested expertise or competence but do not fit the norm. Anyone who wishes can participate and contribute by providing contact information and names of professionals, experts and board members that can serve as alternatives to break the current norms.

Further, the tips are compiled in lists and published on Equalisters’ website. The benefit is twofold:

1) the tips help the person who requested the competence initially and

2) the gathered tips are archived as lists in order to help people find this expertise or competence at a later time.

Equalisters is a purely web-based non-profit organisation with several sources of income that are intended to support the calls, which are free and the core of the business. The income stems from governmental aid, donations, company sponsors, services rendered and sales of products through a web shop. The services rendered include lectures and workshops and provision of space for job ads on the website.

Outcome Equalisters has helped more than 500 organisations and individuals find competence that otherwise would have risked being excluded due to stereotypical ideas about gender, origin or physical abilities. The network helps projects, companies and editorial offices looking for people with a particular competence.

Success factors • To be a part of the network of more than 100 000 people one only needs to “like” the

Facebook page, and you are instantly a member of the organization, there are no additional costs or requirements one has to fulfil.

• Equalisters does not overload their members with information, but ask them for information and input.

• Equalisters work would be impossible without social media. The members input requirement is minimal – a comment on Facebook is quick to write. Yet the effect is big.

• The members’ knowledge sharing has an immediate effect with immediate response, which is why the members see the value of sharing the knowledge or information.


• Equalisters have both its members and clients realize they are a part of something larger, a struggle for more equality in society.

• Focusing on core activity (matching expertise) while developing additional auxiliary services that make organizational and financial expansion possible.

Key technologies There are different ways of contacting Equalisters to acquire their aid, one can either email them with an enquiry or send them a message via Facebook or other social media. Additionally, the organization has finalized lists on their Web page that can be utilized for free.

Sources: Hill, Niklas: The Membership Model Mitglieder im Zentrum der NPO. Verbands-Management, 39. Jahrgang, Ausgabe 1 (2013), S. 18-24.

Ergun and Berhane 2013: Can doing good mean doing well?: A qualitative case study of a Web-based non-profit organization, its clientele and future growth http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:772929/FULLTEXT02.pdf

Edstro ̈m, M. and Mølster, R. (2014). Making change. Go ̈teborg: Nordicom.

Equalisters – Rättviseförmedlingen. (2011). [online] Rattviseformedlingen.se. Available at: http://rattviseformedlingen.se/equalisters [Accessed 7 Mar. 2016].


Appendix B: Feminist Initiative party national and European election campaigns 2014 (Sweden)

Key take-away The campaign was well attuned to the rise of visual representation on social media, resulting in substantial organic share of party support in non-owned social media channels, and contributing to a sustained mobilization of party supporters.

Goal The campaign was a call to action to vote for the party and to support the party’s ideology publicly. The party had to overcome people’s fear of throwing away their vote, as it was not clear the party would succeed in crossing the threshold to enter parliament.

Strategy A grassroots mobilizing campaign based on interaction between social media and real-life action. Rhetorically the campaign is considered to have managed to translate complex feminist theory into a digestable slogans, combined with strong juxtaposition against racist rhetoric.

Outcome The Party’s social media engagement was exceptional, the biggest of all in the elections and by far outweighing the party’s actual size. The Feminist Party managed to get one member (of Sweden’s 20 seats) elected to the European Parliament.

Learnings Minimizing the sharing threshold in social media: Events and real life campaign activities that are visually social media friendly will encourage people to share the party’s symbolism and support of the party in social media. This created a snowball effect where more people were interested in engaging in real life events in order to have cool social media material. But relative social media support should not be mistaken for similar relative support in elections.

Digital campaign platforms Website and several owned social media channels, but most importantly non-owned channels where people shared photos in their own social media streams.

Tactics Organizing make the city pink (the party colour) events, attaching pink handicrafts in the city. Breaking with the Swedish tradition of political posters (and also breaking some rules), this made for istagrammable material for passers-by. Giving the possibility for supporters to arrange home parties attended by the popular party leader, again lending itself to the kind of material people would put up Instagram. Combined with the appropriate hashtag #taplats, meaning “take your space”.

Results The social media mobilization was remarkable, and its popularity and visibility meant that supporters could build and sustain their engagement throughout the campaign.

Key technologies Instagram, Facebook


Sources Thelocal.se. (2014). Sweden's Feminists win social media battle. [online] Available at: http://www.thelocal.se/20140603/swedens-feminists-win-social-media-battle [Accessed 4 Apr. 2016].

Svensson, D. and Vigonius, V. (2015). Får det lov att vara en valkampanj? : en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av Feministiskt Initiativs valkampanjer 2006 och 2014. [online] Lup.lub.lu.se. Available at: https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/5435802 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2016].

Taplats.nu. (n.d.). UT MED RASISTERNA - IN MED FEMINISTERNA. [online] Available at: http://taplats.nu/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2016].


Appendix C: Always #LikeAGirl (US & global)

Key take-away • The campaign used sophisticated insights to aid a creative process which was able to

encapsulate 30 years of Always' brand purpose in a simple, sassy line, turning a well-worn pejorative on its head.

• The campaign created an empowering call to action which has potential to become a movement not just for the target audience, but for generations of women.

• Clear & simple articulation of idea & action needed

• Authenticity is crucial

• Validate insight with data points

• Enlist select celebrity influencers for buzz & visibility

Strategy Always planned a global campaign to drive an emotional connection to the brand, especially amongst millennials, and foster popularity and brand loyalty.

Based on the insight that more than half of women claimed they experienced a decline in confidence at puberty, the "LikeAGirl" campaign was created to empower girls during this time when their confidence is lowest and give the brand a powerful, relevant and purposeful role in this empowerment. The global campaign aimed to help girls feel proud and confident when they do things #LikeAGirl.

This idea was brought to life through a social experiment to show the impact the phrase "like a girl " had on society – especially on girls pre - and post - puberty. The brand campaign would centre on this social experiment to resonate with all generations of women (and even men). The centrepiece of the campaign: a video that captured how people of all ages interpret the phrase "Like A Girl."

The goal for an impactful launch for the video: Drive 2 million video views and 250 million media impressions. The target audience w as identified as Millennial women ages 13-34.

Tactics • Leverage research data: A study was conducted to better understand confidence at

puberty and better shape the campaign, finding that girls experience their biggest drop in confidence during puberty around their first period.

• Validation: When Always shared this idea with young girls, four out of five of them said, 'Yes, this makes complete sense that Always would be connected in a movement that would change the perception of the phrase 'like a girl'.

• Video launch: Leveraging trade media’s reach and its role as promoter of buzzworthy creative content, the Always #LikeAgirl video was announced exclusively with AdAge via a PR launch on June 26th on Always’ YouTube site. pre-seeded the video with influencers, who shared it on their platforms to spark early word of mouth and begin viral spreading to fuel traditional media coverage. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/VhB3l1gCz2E


• Strategic media outreach: Post-launch, Always reached out to online and broadcast media. Combined with influencer seeding, this ensured continual coverage across traditional and social media, driving consumer and media buzz.

• Engaging celebrities - Celebrities including Vanessa Hudgens and Bella Thorne posted tweets, which sparked additional organic celebrity tweets from Sarah Silverman, Tyler Oakley, Maria Shriver, Cher, Kristen Bell, Chelsea Clinton and Melinda Gates, all sharing the video and message.

• Real - time news desk: #LikeAGirl conversations across Facebook and Twitter actively monitored and engaged with in real time to amplify and maximize social sharing .

• After the initial successful campaign #LikeAGirl needed a bigger platform. So, Always leveraged Super Bowl XLIX to ask millions of girls, boys, women and men to join the #LikeAGirl movement. Later Always collaborated with educational brands TED and Confidence Summit, so it could really take action on its confidence message.

Outcome • No generation will ever look at 'Like a Girl' as anything other than something to be proud

of. This social media experiment had created a monumental shift in the conversation around the globe, and the #LikeAGirl video became one of the most popular breakthrough viral videos of 2014.

• According to brand research conducted after this campaign, 81% of women 16 - 24 support Always in creating a movement to reclaim “like a girl” as a positive and inspiring statement.


Learnings • Insights & data: Always used insights and data from its study to bolster the campaign

credibility and news value and develop and drive content and messaging across program assets & tactics.

• Emotions & virality: The initial video showed young girls turning the phrase into a statement of strength and power rather than weakness. It inserted itself into pop culture because it didn't just speak to girls. It hit a chord with everyone: women, mothers, fathers, and it spoke to every single culture [and told] a cultural truth that transcends boundaries.

• Planned growth: The brand built a feeling with a multifaceted campaign, and it has become almost an institution in its own right. The campaigns was planned ahead so that it could grow from one great ad to a never-ending campaign that could be reproduced again and again.

Key technologies Always (Procter and Gamble) are not transparent about their back-end software use in the campaign. A cutting edge social media management tool is of essence for the real-time newsdesk. For the studies / surveys consumer panels were used.

Sources: Researchnow.com. (2014). P&G's Always Aims to Change What It Means to Be 'Like a Girl'. [online] Available at: http://www.researchnow.com/en-US/PressAndEvents/InTheNews/2014/june/pgs-always-aims-to-change-what-it-means-to-be-like-a-girl.aspx [Accessed 12 Mar. 2016].

Businesswire.com. (2015). New Always® #LikeAGirl Unstoppable Video Reveals How Societal Expectations Hold Girls Back; Always Takes Action by Partnering with Academics and TED to Teach Confidence to Girls at Puberty | Business Wire. [online] Available at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150707006208/en/Always%C2%AE-LikeAGirl-Unstoppable-Video-Reveals-Societal-Expectations [Accessed 12 Mar. 2016].

Saef, D. (2015). 5 Lessons Learned From Bud Light's 'Up for Whatever' and Always' 'Like a Girl' Campaigns. [online] Entrepreneur. Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253202 [Accessed 12 Mar. 2016].

Pettit, A. (2014). Great Ad Campaigns: “Like a Girl” by Always. [online] Web.peanutlabs.com. Available at: http://web.peanutlabs.com/great-ad-campaigns-like-a-girl-by-always/ [Accessed 12 Mar. 2016].

Chartered Institute of Public Relations. (2015). Best Use of Social Media. [online] Available at: http://www.cipr.co.uk/content/awards-events/excellence-awards/full-results/19-best-use-social-media [Accessed 12 Mar. 2016].


Appendix D: Occupy Wall Street (US)

Key take-away • It’s much easier to pull off spectacular events with digital technologies than to knit together

lasting organisations. And it’s also easy to mistake the former for the latter.

• Digital tools make it much easier to build up movements quickly, and they greatly lower coordination costs. This seems like a good thing at first, but it often results in an unanticipated weakness: Movements can rush past building infrastructure for decision-making and strategies for sustaining momentum, often to their own detriment.

• Movements should organise themselves in both physical and digital circumstances, as well reach out to centralised media.

Strategy On July 9, 2011 Adbusters sends out this tweet: #acampadaWallstreet: Can we get 20,000 people to flood Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, a democratic assembly and occupy Wall Street? (Adbusters 2011). Adbusters is a global organisation founded in 1989 to “combat the erosion of our physical and cultural environment”. The tweet gets responses, and Adbusters posts a text on their website on July 13, 2011 explaining their intentions with the tweet.

In September of 2011 the OWS campaign swept across the US (and then globally) with hundreds of occupations in various forms.

The lack of any central form of leadership or concise diagnostic frame was a strategic tactic because it welcomed inclusivity and participatory democracy. Under the Occupy model, proposals are brought to a vote before a general assembly, a form of direct democracy in which any participant is free to comment or vote on any proposal under consideration.

The camps for the OCW movement became very important to stay in the centralised media’s spotlight, and perhaps more importantly, influence how they were perceived by the public. The loss of these camps also meant the loss of the OCW movement.

Although physical occupations are long over, the occupations continue online, the movement and its supporting groups extending its existence to the new medium. Messages shared on the websites and Twitter relate to wider and related protests and why, at times, the groups revert to dissent PR tactics by hijacking other activist groups’ projects or by making newsjacking attempts.

Tactics Viral content of the OWS movement was consciously placed on sites to spread around as much as possible; in doing so, there was also a hope to gain more followers and support.

A picture that attracted most followers was the image of two screenshots placed together with a large pink text across the image. The first screenshot highlights the beginning of a New York Times online news article where it is stated that the New York police deliberately let demonstrators walk on the bridge, only to cut them off and arrest them. The other article makes it seem that the action from the demonstrators was illegal in the first place.


Viral organization: OWS made everyone responsible for the success of the organisation. If you want to partake in the organisation you have to search for the people who organize these events. If you can’t find them you can organize them yourself and hope that enough people will join you. The camps were a breeding ground for new initiatives and enough people were around to partake in these initiatives. This type of organizational structure makes it easier for organizations and movements to go viral. People could take the initiative themselves and start their own OWS movement in their own city without restriction of the “leaders” of the movement.

Outcome While Occupy stretched far beyond its urban centers, with thousands of online forums, it was the unique mixture between the online discussion and gatherings of people in the streets that fuelled conversations and debates. An argument can be made that the movement played a role in increasing the prominence of social and economic inequality in the public discourse. Though it would be unreasonable to argue that users could have maintained the frenetic pace of Occupy’s earliest days, it is doubtless that supporters may have hoped for a more sustained discourse than is evident from the near-complete abandonment of these once high-profile communication channels. Launched and owned by Adbusters, the main OWS website is currently redirected to the Adbusters website and is featured among its other campaigns. This makes the website an element of protest PR inscribed within wider activist PR communications.

Learnings • Social injustice should be captured in a specific way, so that the material speaks for itself.

• The We are the 99 percent frame made it possible for people to write their stories with their miseries and make them a part of something bigger. Telling your personal story suddenly becomes an act of collective action.


• Social movements still needed centralised media to broadcast their stories.

• The movement used an incredibly diverse system of communications media: and seemingly anachronistic media practices like pamphleteering became essential to furthering the interests of the organisation.

• There is evidence indicating that OWS protesters were already highly interconnected before the launch of movement.

Key technologies Social media have played a prominent role in facilitating communication and coordination throughout the development of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Tumblr.com was exceptionally instrumental in sparking the protests. Its “We are the 99 percent” blog published personal stories of lost jobs, lost homes, crippling debt, and a lack of government support or accountability to its citizens.

In addition to Tumblr there were dozens of wikis and Web pages where citizens could further engage in the discussions and planning of Occupy Wall Street. Three of the most popular were OccupyWallst.org (which raised thousands of dollars from dozens of groups and hundreds of individuals who supported the activists in terms of providing food, shelter, and gas mask protection), howToOccupy.org, and takethesquare.net, both of which provided similar information.

To organize the various protests activists also used Meetup.com and Foursquare, two location services that people can download and use on their cellular devices to track schedules of marches, location changes and alternative routes.

The Occuypystream.com site provided links to live streams following OWS and in total there were over 700 Occupyrelated channels; 70% of the live streaming content was created on mobile phones and 89% of it viewed on mobile phones

The main OWS website included social media sharing buttons, social media contact buttons, donate bitcoins button, hyperlinking, social media embeds, map, chat, livestream and open forum.

Sources Carty, V. (2015). The Indignados and Occupy Wall Street Social Movements: Global Opposition to the Neoliberalization of Society as Enabled by Digital Technology. Journal of Critical Organization Theory, 3/2015.

Gitlin, T. (2014). Where are the Occupy protesters now?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jun/17/where-occupy-protesters-now-social-media [Accessed 8 Mar. 2016].

Conover, M., Ferrara, E., Menczer, F. and Flammini, A. (2013). The Digital Evolution of Occupy Wall Street. PLoS ONE, 8(5), p.e64679.

Vielen, D. (2014). The Role of ‘New’ Media in the Occupy Wall Street Movement.


Appendix E: Podemos (Spain)

Key take-away • Online organizing helped Podemos develop policies in response to citizen interests, increase

political support and encourage supporter participation;

• Crowdfunding lower-value donations from a higher number of supporters can empower supporters by increasing their confidence that their party or candidates are responsive to their needs rather than special interests;

• Local circulos connected the party’s national online organization to traditional grassroots activists; and

• One key to Podemos’ success, was testing. By piloting new tools and approaches at the local level, Podemos was able to identify and address any possible technical glitches and other problems before deploying them nationally. While this approach may delay the initial release date, it can save money and time in the long run.

Goal Involving supporters in decision-making and direct democracy, thereby gaining commitment and engagement, but also increasing transparency to gain trust for leadership.

Strategy Develop free technologies that allow for massive online participation. A large part of Podemos’ digital strategy is turning decision-making into an inclusive, citizen-driven process, opening decisions up to large numbers of people through the Internet, involving citizens in shaping policy and sharing their expertise. -

From its inception Podemos has focused on appealing to those who are relatively unengaged politically, aiming at low technological barriers to participation.

Digital platforms 1. Participatory platforms: Podemos has used online tools to attract and sustain followers, and

involve Spaniards in everything from developing party policies to selecting candidates. It has also developed and utilised apps for multiple aspects of the democratic process, from determining agendas to voting.

2. Crowdfunding: fund rallies and operations

3. Open data accounting to maximize transparency

Tactics • Low cost of entry in relation to both tools and knowledge. To create a branch you only need

a Facebook account, an email and a meeting.

• Crowdfunding for specific projects, such as building servers for Podemos web platforms and materials for our political campaigns. They also use a monthly donation system to cover all expenses.

• Open source digital platforms: Allows anyone with the knowledge to contribute to the tech development, ”allowing Podemos to save money and cost”, as well as keeping commercial interests at bay.


Outcome 300,000 unique visitors each month on average pass through Podemos’s digital open debate space. They have more than 1,500 discussion and work autonomous groups and independent work, grouped in a network around the same project, as well as the first large-scale direct democracy system of Spain.

Learnings and success factors • Offering participatory tools for its grassroots is very in sync with the narrative of being a

participatory movement.

• The tools are basic, but Podemos is now investing in open source development so that tools can better handle the complexity of the democratic process.

• There seems to be a trade off between simplicity of participation and the risk clicktivism on the one hand, but on the other hand complex e-participaton can also favour those with time and expertise.

• One of the keys to Podemos’ successful use of ICTs has been its system for piloting new tools. The party is divided into local associations called circulos, which often serve as testing grounds for new technology before it is implemented by the national party.

Key technologies The core of its dialogue with citizens is through a space called “Plaza Podemos” on Reddit, a popular social networking and news website. Podemos’ Reddit board, Plaza Podemos, an open, online discussion forum where party members can debate policy specifics.

The Participa platform: accessible for mobile devices allowing anyone to register in Podemos and participate in online votes. The result of this software development can be now downloaded freely


and you can access the Android app. The code has been freed with a GNU Aferro v3 license. It includes the following functionality:

• Online voting: Agora Voting is a open code software for online voting that allows any organization to undertake electoral processes in secure, flexible and transparent way at a competitive cost. This application facilitates votes based on the location of the user, allowing Podemos to hold local, regional and state level elections. This tool has been used in all 30 votes that Podemos has held.

• Integration with a voluntary payment system that allows payments either via bank debit receipts or with credit card (integrating Redsys payment platform). Podemos has also designed a system where anyone can make a loan from 100€ to a maximum of 10,000€ per person that will be returned once the electoral subvention has been paid. This way, Podemos will get in debt only with people, not banks which is forbiden by Podemos’s statutes.

• Citizens’ proposals in AppGree. Podemos gives the possibility to their registered members to push and sign initiatives in the same way legislative proposals work. Participa takes successful proposals from Plaza Podemos and display them in the voting area, in +1 bottom-up list, following the requirement of the approved by-laws.

• SMS verification. For some massive participation processes it might be required additional security measures, including e-mail and mobile phone identification, thanks to a password sent by SMS.

Podemos has previously used TitanPad, a collaborative document application that allowed them to share notes or discussions. https://titanpad.com/ and Loomio to perform tasks that are now integrated in the Participa platform.

Customized OpenERP where Podemos’ accounting is kept: https://transparencia.podemos.info


An illustration of what the digital tech ecosystem of Podemos looks like (Guanyem is a Catalan sister organization)

Results Through the use of modern technolopolitics, the power of connected multitudes,, Podemos managed to turn the ashes of the Indignados (the outraged) movement into one of the most popular parties in Spain.

By focusing on social media and participatory democratic values, Podemos was able to to engage citizens better than Spain’s two traditional major parties. Furthermore, the party’s focus on crowdfunding limited conflicts of interest, and informal norms encouraged both online accessibility and offline participation.

Compared to a standard campaign, which in Spain can cost more than 2 million euros per party, Podemos succeeded with hardly any money, initially raising 100,000 euros (US$133,650) through crowdfunding.

Sources Releasing the Code of Podemos' Digital Heart. (2016). [online] Podemos. Available at: http://podemos.info/releasing-the-code-of-podemos-digital-heart/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2016].

How Tech-Savvy Podemos Became One of Spain’s Most Popular Parties in 100 Days. (2016). [online] TechPresident. Available at: http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/25235/how-tech-savvy-podemos-became-one-spain%E2%80%99s-most-popular-parties-100-days [Accessed 7 Mar. 2016].


Spain’s Podemos. (2015). [online] NDI. Available at: http://tech4parties.org/case-studies/spains-podemos/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2016].


Skiftet (Sweden)

Key take-away • Crowd sourcing: A more neutral and open petitions platform, where anyone can start a

petition, is bearing more concrete results than those campaigns by Skiftet themselves. Skiftet can take advantage of the best of these independent petitions by claiming affiliation to them once they are successful.

• The social media adapted imagery and the quasi-neutral description of the organization lowers thresholds for people that may not identify with left-wing politics to still sympathize and take action on messages distributed digitally by Skiftet.

Goal The predecessor to Skiftet – Alliance-Free Sweden – was founded by the Social democratic party’s speech writer to lobby against the centre-right government’s policies, mainly through blogging and other digital channels to influence public opinion. With the quite recent shift to a social democratic led government Alliance-Free Sweden had to reinvent itself. Now the goal is to influence public opinion and make Sweden more progressive. An anti-big corporation spirit is evident in the rhetoric.

Strategy There are two main strategies: To digitally organize or activate readers of Skiftet produced news and opinions, and to give the impression of being non-affiliated to party politics, as if being a neutral platform for progressive activism. The name itself is neutral, Skiftet means the shift, whereas the previous name was a statement against the ruling coalition (the Alliance). Furthermore, to increase its credibility as a grass roots movement, Skiftet claims to have no employees. In practice at least a few of the 10 regular contributors to the Skiftet news are employed by social democratic affiliated organizations, thus raising suspicions they are in practice paid for their Skiftet work.

Tactics Skiftet claims to organize the readers of its digital channels in a way different from other progressive news sites. ’News sites miss out on the opportunity to ”catch the feeling” of the reader once the reader has read an article. They can’t do anything with that feeling. We want the reader to interact or take action.’ This Skiftet does by combining news with campaigns on its sites and social media channels (see image 1). Skiftet does not do a campaign for every article, but every campaign gets several news articles and follow up articles. The imagery is very social media friendly, and there is no immediate way of understanding that this organization is in fact clearly driven by a left-wing agenda (see image 2). It is rare that left-wing visual symbolism is used in Skiftet’s channels.

Its campaigns are petitions or email campaigns aimed at politicians.

Recently, Skiftet has started a separate petitions’ site where anyone can set up a petition. The site is called MyCampaign (MinKampanj). The petitions on this site are different from the campaigns on the Skiftet site, in that the campaigns are run by individuals who are not directly working for Skiftet, and they are not as such promoted by Skiftet. Anyone can start any kind of petition there.

Skiftet organizes online votes to decide about key issues related to the movement. Skiftet organized a digital voting if they were to accept a donation of 5000 GBP from a private company. The digital voting itself, Skiftet estimates, resulted in Skiftet attracting 50 new monthly donors, whose donations easily exceed the 5000 GBP.


Image 1

Image 2


Outcomes Skiftet runs the second biggest petition currently active in Sweden, its anti-TTIP campaign, second only to an animal rights campaign to ban fireworks. It frequently encourages mass mailings – including to social democratic party politicians in order to try to influence the party’s stance on TTIP. These email campaigns have raised criticism and have been considered both spam and vandalism.

There is limited evidence of the real-life success of most of the Skiftet run campaigns. Those that Skiftet claim have resulted in success can mostly be attributed primarily to other circumstances than the effect of the Skiftet campaign. The TTIP campaign may have some influence on public opinion, but has not resulted in government policy change.

However, the MyCampaign platform is showing evidence of more positive results. The most successful MyCampaigns that are in line with Skiftet’s own values are picked up for strengthening the Skiftet brand. A MyCampaign for recognition of endometriosis as a medical condition by the National Board of Health was organized by an individual initially unaffiliated with Skiftet, but once the petition bore results, she was described by Skiftet as ’a shifter’ (see image 3 and 4).

Image 3: Skiftet on Facebook celebrating ’VICTORY!’ of one of the petitions from the MyCampaign platform.


Sources http://skiftet.org/

https://www.minkampanj.nu/

Svenska Dagbladet (2015). Skiftet (s) ofredar. [online] SvD.se. Available at: http://blog.svd.se/larssonlaser/2015/05/19/skiftet-s-ofredar/ [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016].

Dagens Media. (2014). Nya satsningen av Alliansfritt Sverige. [online] Available at: http://www.dagensmedia.se/medier/pr/nya-satsningen-av-alliansfritt-sverige-6097190 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016].

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