Political communication via Internet

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Political communication via Internet

• Rainer Heufers and Maximilian Peters
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation
• Gerakan Publicity and Communications Workshop
• 3rd 5th May 2007, Menara PGRM

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Communication channels

• Website
• Audio / Videofiles
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videoblogs

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Opportunities in Malaysia

• 3.7 Million internet dial-up subscriptions (2005)
• 490,630 Internet Broadband Subscriptions
• Malaysian internet-rate397 (France 414)
  internet users per 1000 people (Human Development
  Report)
• ? Potential quite high

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• Only one percent (!) of the American households
  use Podcasts/Videoblogs ? long way to mainstream
• Low amount of people using new technology -
  it seems to be more an instrument which can be
  used to motivate party members than to acquire
  new voters at least at the moment

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• Audio / Videofiles, Blogs Podcasts allow
  political communication with little technical
  efforts
• their costs are low compared to other
  advertisements
• Fast and current information is possible
• Communication with the user seems possible
• ? interactive campaigning

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Communication channels

• Website
• Audio / Videofiles
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videoblogs

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Interactive Websites

• Political Party-websites where users can actually
  communicate with the party officials
• A good example is Deutschlandprogramm.de where
  Germanys liberal Party FDP collected main
  points for campaign manifesto from online users

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Communication possibilities

• Website
• Audio / Videofiles
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videoblogs

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Audio / Videofiles

• Audio-recordings and videos are posted on a
  website and can be viewed and sometimes downloaded

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Examples (I) Barack Obama

• Barack Obama used a Videofile for announcing his
  intentions to run for presidency

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Obama Videos

• A collection of campaigning recordings
• Does not really seem to be appealing to potential
  voters ? no feeling of a communication
• Videos seem too long ? hard to keep the viewers
  attention

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Examples (II) Ségolène Royal

• Ségolène Royal provides her election-campaign
  website visitors with plenty of videofiles

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Royal Videos

• Webpage full of videofiles but only few primary
  video messages to the potential voters
• Mostly short up to three minutes
• Private atmosphere, many different camera
  perspectives ? attractive design
• short but catchy theme ? high recognition value
• Subscription is not possible

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Examples (III) US Midterm Elections

• At the eve of the last US Midterm Elections both
  Democrats and Republicans - used Videofiles in
  their campaigns

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Midterm Elections Videos

• Video messages became very popular in the past
  November 2006 US Midterm Election campaigns /
  Candidates from various states used videos for
  the first time
• Youtube as an important instrument of
  propagation of those videos

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Youtube

• In regard of an elevated concentration of
  political Videofiles, Yotube.com seems to be an
  adequate platform to reach especially younger
  consumer
• In order to reach out to as many people as
  possible many links in Youtube are required

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Communication channels

• Website
• Audio / Videofiles
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videoblogs

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Blogs

• Based on pre-designed Weblogs (e.g. blogspot.com)
• A user-generated website where entries are made
  and displayed in a chronological order
• Blogs often provide commentary or news on a
  particular subject, such as politics, or local
  news some function as more personal online
  diaries.
• A typical blog combines text, images, and links
  to other blogs and web pages related to its
  topic.
• Readers can leave comments in an interactive
  format
• Most blogs are primarily textual although some
  focus on photos (photoblog), videos (vlog), or
  audio (podcasting)

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Blogs

• Blogging websites contain features that create
  interactivity of all bloggers (blogosphere)
• A subscription-possibility is an essential
  characteristic of a blog (RSS)
• A newsreader (e.g. bloglines.com) collects all
  updates of subscribed blogs and websites
• www.

Blogosphere
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Communication channels

• Website
• Audio / Videofiles
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videoblogs

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What is Podcasting?

• A digital audio broadcast recording which can be
  downloaded from the internet on a personal
  MP3player. The word Podcast is a mixture of
  IPod and broadcast.
• A podcast is distinguished from other digital
  audio files by its ability to be downloaded
  automatically via RSS (Atom)
• A podcatcher (e.g. iPodder.com) collects all
  updates of subscribed podcasts
• MP3-format ? usage of different devices is
  possible usage in subway, gym etc.
• WWW.

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ikauder.de
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Examples (Podcasts)

• Podcast of the Conservatives in Germany. Started
  during the election campaign in 2005
• never longer than five minutes
• introduction with music and a speaker who is
  also moderating the show

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Swing voters

• Podcasts could be very interesting for so-called
  swing voters who are not stated to one
  particular party
• if they do take part in elections, they usually
  inform themselves very precisely before voting
  for one candidate / party. For those Podcasts are
  a good source of information

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Communication channels

• Website
• Audio / Videofiles
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videoblogs

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Videoblogs

• A blog including a video
• often combines attached videos or a video link
  with supporting text, images, and other metadata
• A Videoblog is distinguished from other digital
  video files by its ability to be downloaded
  automatically via RSS (Atom)

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Examples (IV) Angela Merkel

• German Chancellor Merkel first head of
  government producing a regular videoblog

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Merkel Videoblogs

• High quality / high level of perfection
• Memorable intro high level of brand recognition
• Every time another set
• All episodes suffer of a donnishness of Ms.
  Merkel
• Seems very formal no feeling of even a little
  cosiness
• Between 4 to 6 mins long
• Till now about 250.000 users
• 6500 Euro per show
• Investment of about 5,42 Cent per user

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Examples (V) Hillary Clinton

• Hillary Clinton announced her intentions to
  become the 2008 presidential candidate via
  Videoblog

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Clinton Videoblogs

• The whole atmosphere seems to be very familiar
  compared to the Merkel videos
• Private location maybe a special tool to
  attract the viewers attention
• Seems like an answer to questions asked by users
  concerning previous shows.
• Around 5 mins long

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Opportunities of Podcasting, Audio- and Videoblogs

• Time a very slender resource
• People have less time for their interests
• ?Podcasts in the car, train, gym
• Information can be received at unusual places and
  in new situations

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Political communication Perspectives

• Better time utilization ? higher level of
  information possible
• audio and visual recordings are much easier to
  understand and more emotional than complex long
  texts
• ? Podcasts for mobilization of members and
  supporters
• Example from the world of business
  Ex-Bertelsmann CEO
• Thomas Middelhof

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Best Practice
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• In order to maintain the viewers attention a
  videofile or videoblog should be rather short
  than too long
• A nice atmosphere is helpful private ambience
  makes it more interesting to the viewers eye
• Reading off should be avoided
• Different camera positions are required in order
  to avoid boredom
• Insertions of short videos and digital readouts
  can be helpful for a better understanding of the
  message