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The Internet’s Effect on the 2008 Presidential Election
By Steve Kozak | November 14, 2008
In the aftermath of what may be considered the most revolutionary and historic presidential election of all time, it can be concluded that the Internet lived up to its potential as a major source for news, videos and information about the presidential campaign, its candidates and their views. According to a survey conducted by Complete and released by Cisco about the influence of online video and social media applications on American’s political engagement, the Internet was cited by 62 percent of respondents as a regularly used source for 2008 presidential election information and coverage, which was surpassed only by television (82%). Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say that they regularly learned something about the campaign from the Internet; almost double the percentage from a comparable point in the 2004 campaign (13%).
According to the survey, traffic to popular online video sites increased over five times in 2008 compared to 2004. Approximately 30 percent of registered voters said they used online video to follow 2008 presidential election coverage, and 75 percent of these online video users felt watching video online allowed them to follow presidential election news and events more closely.
“Visual networking is clearly playing a significant role in how American voters get political information and express their views,” said Ken Wirt, VP of consumer marketing at Cisco Systems. “The 2008 election has rightfully captured the attention of the United States, and the Internet serves as a very effective tool in helping people investigate issues, make informed choices and share their opinions.”
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press on campaign news and political communication, found in a January article entitled “Internet’s Broader Role in Campaign 2008: Social Networking and Online Videos Take Off,” 42% of those ages 18 to 29 say they regularly learn about the campaign from the Internet, the highest percentage for any news source. In January 2004, just 20% of young people said they routinely got campaign news from the Internet.
According to the People Press survey, the proportion of Americans who say they regularly learn about the campaign from the Internet has more than doubled since 2000 – from 9% to 24%. National Public Radio (NPR) is the only other news source to show significant growth since 2000; currently 18% say they regularly learn about the campaign from NPR, up from 12% eight years ago. With more young people going online for campaign information, the age gap in campaign news sources has widened. As was the case in 2004, older Americans are more likely than younger people to learn about the campaign from many traditional news sources, particularly local television news, Sunday television political programs, nightly network news, and newspapers. The Internet is the only major news source that young people use for campaign news at higher rates than older Americans – and this gap has more than doubled since 2004.
The Internet has, and has forever, changed the role of how presidential campaigns are fought, and how Americans attain their political news and information. Similar to that of John F. Kennedy utilizing the new medium of television in 1961, Barack Obama used the Internet to capture the intrigue of Americans, and the world.
“Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the nominee,” said Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of The Huffington Post, at a November 7th conference on ‘How Politics and Web 2.0 Intersect,’ at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, found in Claire Cain Miller’s November 13th article in the New York Times, entitled “How Obama’s Internet Campaign Changed Politics.”
According to Joe Trippi, a political consultant, and Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign manager, who was also present at the conference, Dean’s 2004 campaign was groundbreaking in its use of the Internet to raise small amounts of money from hundreds of thousands of people. But by using interactive Web 2.0 tools, Mr. Obama’s campaign changed the way politicians organize supporters, advertise to voters, defend against attacks and communicate with constituents.
“Obama used the Internet to organize his supporters in a way that would have in the past required an army of volunteers and paid organizers on the ground,” Trippi said.
“The tools changed between 2004 and 2008. Barack Obama won every single caucus state that matters, and he did it because of those tools, because he was able to move thousands of people to organize,” Trippi said.
Also, Mr. Obama’s campaign took advantage of YouTube for free advertising. Trippi argued that those videos were more effective than television ads because viewers chose to watch them or received them from a friend instead of having their television shows interrupted.
According to Trippi, Mr. Obama’s official YouTube campaign ads were watched a total of 14.5 million hours. To buy 14.5 million hours on broadcast television would cost $47 million.
“Just like Kennedy brought in the television presidency,” Trippi said, “I think we’re about to see the first wired, connected, networked presidency.”
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November 15th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Politicians have been making inroads, but clearly he took it to a new level and left others in the dust. Nice piece.