Internet In Political Campaigns
by Brian Reich | 25 May 2006, 2:00am
A new report on the role of the internet in political campaigns has been released. The focus is on the 2006 cycle. Here is the blog post that introduces the study:
We recently completed a study that assesses the utilization of the Internet as a tool for 2006 political campaigns. The study, a follow-up of the 2002 version, examined how 2006 senatorial candidates used the Web to publicize information about their campaign platforms, personal backgrounds, and volunteer opportunities. We looked at a number of Web campaign tools and made comparisons based on party affiliations, importance of particular races, and whether candidates were incumbents or challengers.
The results clearly showed that while Web use by political candidates increased dramatically since 2002, politicians are still failing to take advantage of all the Internet has to offer. 96 percent of this year’s Senate candidates have active websites, while only 55% of candidates had websites in 2002. While most candidates use a set of core Web tools, the majority of candidates are refraining from using newer and more sophisticated Web strategies, such as blogs and podcasts, on their campaign websites. Only 23% of Senate candidates are blogging, just 15% offer Spanish alternatives to their websites, and an even smaller number of candidates, 5%, maintain podcasts. In contrast, between 90% and 93% of candidates offered biographies, contact information, and online donations on their websites. It is obvious from these results that despite a general increase in the use of the Internet for political campaigns, candidates are still hesitant to pour finite financial resources into new campaign strategies.
You can download the full 38-page report and the data sheets here.
