Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • IT Management
    • Mobile
    • Networking

    Web 2.0 Changing Politics Forever

    Written by

    Sean Gallagher
    Published November 2, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      RESTON, Virginia—There was bipartisan agreement on display Thursday about the impact of Web 2.0 technology on politics.

      Joe Trippi, senior advisor to the John Edwards presidential campaign, and Cyrus Krohn, the director of the eCampaign division of the Republican National Committee, both spoke of how social networking has changed the face of politics on a panel at ExecutiveBiz’s The New New Internet conference here.

      “It’s going to overthrow the current structure [of politics],” Trippi said of the impact of the Web, social networking, and social media. Krohn concurred, saying, “The floodgates have been opened—it’s going to change politics forever.”

      While the “first Internet President” has yet to be elected—and the Internet may not be the deciding factor in the 2008 election—it’s clear to senior people within several campaigns that social networking is the only way for them to reach a segment of the population that politicians have generally ignored in the past.

      “More than half of people under 30 don’t have landline phones,” said John Della Volpe, the director of polling for the Harvard Institute of Politics, who joined Krohn and Trippi on the panel. “Most campaigns go after seniors. But more people under 30 voted in the last election than people over 65.”

      To read more about why presidential politics and the Web’s response time rarely mix, click here.

      Both Trippi and Krohn heavily use Web 2.0 technologies to reach supporters of their causes. Krohn, in fact, told the audience that he was “Twittering” the whole conference, and uses Twitter to communicate with a large number of what he referred to as “Generation M” voters—voters under 30.

      “[In] our MySpace group, the average user is under 25,” said Krohn. He said that the RNC has turned to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to help get the word out to younger supporters. “The medium has gone wild,” he said. “It can be exciting, but it can also be intimidating.”

      One of the side effects of sites like eBay and MySpace, said Trippi, is that “Americans have faith in strangers again—something that was wiped out by big media.” While television news broadcasts “show murders every night,” he said, the nature of Web 2.0 builds communities of trust.

      Page 2: Web 2.0 ‘Changing Politics Forever’

      Krohn agreed, and noted the power of what “millennials” are building in social networking sites. “There is someone on the Internet today, probably 15 years old,” said Krohn, “who is building a social network online that will [help him] become President.”

      Trippi said that he felt that the RNC was a bit behind on its development of understanding of Web 2.0 culture mostly because of President Bush’s re-election bid four years ago. “If you have a guy who’s a done deal running, even though you had people who believed in Web 2.0, they really didn’t need to go bottom-up,” he said. “On the other side, you had Howard Dean’s campaign, and we were freaking out trying to figure out, ‘How do we get to people?’

      “It spawned a whole group of people who are comfortable with these tools.”

      Conversely, Trippi, said that he believes that the parties’ roles may be reversed this time. “This year, you have almost the exact opposite—Hillary tends to be safe,” he said.

      Trippi, who became a convert to Web tools for campaigning as an adviser to Dean’s presidential campaign, pointed to the successes of Republican congressman Ron Paul’s campaign in taking advantage of the power of social networking—not that his campaign could control that power. “His (supporters) are just more excited about him and using the tools,” Trippi said.

      The Edwards campaign used the power of social networking to counter the “$400 haircut” buzz that surrounded Trippi’s candidate through a YouTube video campaign, he said. The videos, which used the song “Hair” from the Broadway musical of the same name, pulled back from close ups of people’s hair to reveal scenes of the aftermath of Katrina and images of the war in Iraq. “It got hundreds of thousands of views,” Trippi said. “We put it up in the middle of the CNN debate, and all the talk just stopped.”

      YouTube and other social networking sites with user-contributed content are also creating what Della Volpe called “an era of authenticity.”

      “Someone in this campaign is going to get caught doing the facade thing, at some closed-to-the-press event, on a cell phone [camera] where he thinks he’s safe,” said Trippi. The threat of something like that happening, he said, will build authenticity and honesty into how candidates carry themselves.

      Check out eWEEK.com’s Messaging & Collaboration Center for more on IM and other collaboration technologies.

      Sean Gallagher
      Sean Gallagher
      Sean Gallagher is editor of Ziff Davis Internet's enterprise verticals group. Previously, Gallagher was technology editor for Baseline, before joining Ziff Davis, he was editorial director of Fawcette Technical Publications' enterprise developer publications group, and the Labs managing editor of CMP's InformationWeek.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.