Campaign s By Alyssa Ray

Forms of Interactivity 1. One way communication (e.g. web pages). 2. Two way communication (e.g. private s). 1. One to many communication (e.g. s, list servers, discussion groups, computer conferences). 2. Many to many communication (e.g. group projects submitted to a computer conference). *Doherty, A. (1998) "The Internet: Destined to Become a Passive Surfing Technology?", Educational Technology, Vol. 38 (Sept-Oct), No. 5, p61-63

Benefits Delivers information directly to user Easy to forward Source credibility Targets specific demographics (age, location, education, etc)* Low cost Quick and easy to produce Enhances user perceptions of trustworthiness, responsiveness, sensitivity. Fundraising interactivity *Yi, Zhixian. (2007). Use Patterns in the United States. Chinese Librarianship: an International Electronic Journal, 24. URL:

Detriments Effectiveness? Information Overload Wasted time/effort

s from “McCain” directly and personally communicating with more than 43,000 supporters during the 2000 election cycle.* HOWEVER… McCain’s Computer Literacy *Andrew Williams and Kaye Trammell, “Candidate Campaign Messages in the Presidential Election 2004”

s from “Obama” High Quantity Multiple Authors Messages and Information Interactivity VP Announcement

2004 Election s Quantity Direct Address Self-Promotion vs. Attack Messages Issues vs. Character Interactivity Trammell, Kaye and Paul Williams, “Candidate Campaign Messages in the Presidential Election 2004”. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 49, No. 4, (2005)

Quantity 2004 Overall increase in quantity closer to election However…

…Huge Increase for 2008 Election Obama: (since 5/16)-111 (9/15-10/4)-26 McCain: (9/15-10/4): 13 Obama roughly doubling McCain in quantity Frequency attributed to variety of authors, donation requests, and interactivity with events/supporters

Direct Address Bush: direct address in 82.1% of messages Kerry: direct address in 92.0% of messages

Self-Promotion Vs. Opponent Attack Kerry: promotion (44.6%), attack (24.4%) and combination (31.1%). Bush: promotion (51.9%), attack (7.4%) and combination (40.7%).

Interactivity Bush’s messages contained twice the interactivity features of Kerry’s

Issues 38.5% of the messages. Bush’s campaign focused on issues (66.7%) at a greater rate than Kerry’s (33.3%)

Messages Most frequent : 1) invitation of participation 2) emphasizing hope for the future

2004 Trends INTERACTIVITY INCREASE… Hyperlinks- “get involved,” “send this message to a friend,” or even contact the campaign with feedback. Graphics- banner at the top of the message (97.4%), photographs (17.9%) and special event icons (6.4%) Multimedia- flash movies (1.3%) or video (5.1%), including ads (1.3%) …BUT STILL LIMITED Used 3/12 possible interactivity variables (1/4 of possibilities) AUTHORSHIP Campaign staff- 60.3%, candidates (14.1%), other politicians (6.4%), family members of the candidates (2.6%), and celebrities (1.3%)

Substance Issues (12.8%) Personality or attributes of the candidate (10.3%). Kerry: focused on horserace (84.0%), issue coverage (8.0%), and personality (8%). Bush: focused on horserace (64.3%), issue coverage (21.4%) and personality (14.3%).

Another Election 2002 Florida Gubernatorial Jeb Bush (R-I) and Bill McBride (D) Characteristics of s: Personal qualities (24.7%) Candidates omitted mention of their opponent in the messages. Addressed the reader directly (62.1%) Increase of candidate campaign messages being sent during key campaign dates. Trammell, Kaye and Paul Williams, “Beyond Direct Mail: Evaluating Candidate Messages in the 2002 Florida Gubernatorial Campaign”. Journal of E- Government Vol 1, Issue 1: November 10, 2004.

Effectiveness 2004 Bush: 1. Substance: candidate as voice of people, standing for hope, emphasizing political accomplishments. 2. Issue focused 3. Twice the interactivity 4. More promotion, less attack 5. Consistent (increased) quantity over last half of campaign

Do these trends lead towards Obama Victory? …We’ll just have to wait and see