1. Digital Politics
Trends 2012

2. “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)

3. What are some of the
trends you are seeing in
the world of „digital‟
politics today?

4. 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?

5. “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/

6. Votizen Founder: David Benetti

7. Online Advertising
Increased online spending
by candidates:
2012 election estimates --
somewhere between $1 and
$1.5 billion,
up from $177 million in 2008.

8. 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.

9. Online Political Satire
• Mark Fiore
• 2010 Pultizer Prize Winner
• Online only – political cartoon satirist

10. Mark Fiore “Old vs. New”

11. 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.

12. 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 Extrinsic motivations
– Inform people
}
– Formulate new ideas
– Keep track of thoughts Intrinsic motivations
– 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.

13. Truth…?!
•Factcheck.org
•PolitiFact.com

14. 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/

15. Appendix

16. 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).