Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Capstone Project
for
November 8, 2010
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Abstract
have steadily decreased in the United States since the 1960s. This Capstone
constituents to action.
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Table of Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................ii
Introduction ....................................................................................... 1
Results .............................................................................................20
Discussion ........................................................................................28
Conclusion ........................................................................................42
References........................................................................................44
Appendices .......................................................................................49
Introduction
turnout has been steadily declining since the 1960s at a rate of 1.2 percent
every four years (Wattenberg 2002, 6). Many scholars argue this decline is a
being the best example of government of, for and by the people will
continue to drift towards a government of, for and by the interested few”
(Doppelt and Shearer 1999, 12). A study by the United States Department
of Commerce reveals the “least interested few” and indicates that the
education, income, and race (1991). Low turnout by these groups results in
essential to the electoral process, but many Americans fail to take advantage
of their right to vote. What new technology and social media tools could
turnout?
technologies and social media tools, so they can help establish positive social
participation.
Problem Statement
in the United States, which creates policies that are more partial toward the
active voters. Political strategists Burkhart et al. (1972) reason that one of
the key effects of low voter turnout and “apathy toward political participation
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is that the political process tends to be dominated by, and run for the benefit
of, a small minority… (2). This leads to the further isolation of low voter
turnout groups in the electoral process, because policies and campaigns are
researched voter turnout in the United States trends, and argue the reason
younger, poorer, and less educated people vote less is “because the political
election is attributed to many factors, but largely correlated with the Obama
Obama for America campaign by strategists DiJulio and Wood (2008) found
that the groundbreaking new media program “was truly impressive, resulting
networks and half a billion dollars raised” (4). The Obama campaign made it
easy for the typically inactive youth to communicate, organize, and find the
Research highlights these online and social media tools have the
conducted more easily; vast amounts of political information could have the
actions; they allow larger, diverse groups to form and mobilize (Smith et al
political campaigns could utilize new technologies and social media tools to
do this, the Capstone focuses on three major topics: First, how political
second, why political campaigns must utilize these new tools and how this
could help increase active political participation, especially with regard to the
for developing new strategies to utilize these new technologies and social
media tools.
Review of Literature
the United States and the new online and social media tools that promote
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show that online and social media tools allow political campaigns to develop
including national studies, polls, news articles, online journals, books, and
literature are the effects of voter turnout, what online and social media tools
Voter Turnout
reminded each election cycle that fewer voters are turning up at the polls as
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states that the United States voter “turnout rate ranks us just above the
currently fail to vote. A report by the Census Bureau (1991) found that voter
higher with age; chances of voting increases with education; persons with
higher incomes are more likely to vote; the Midwest leads the way;
between whites and blacks has closed; and most workers employed in the
public sector vote. Political researchers Doppelt and Shearer (1999) note
that reasons for not voting include, “few real choices, time, too many
the tone of the campaigns, media focus on the horse race, the decline of
Bruce Bimber reasons that low voter turnout results from the resonation of
one particular technology, television” (2003, 1). Low voter turnout is often
process.
States Census Bureau 1991). For example, information from the United
made up seven percent of all voters, while the 65 and older population
accounted for 20 percent (1991). U.S. Census Bureau information from the
percent and those 65 and older made up 16.5 percent of the adult
percent of all voters, while the 65 and older population accounted for 19
percent (2009). These statistics illustrate the potential shift in voter turnout
that could allow for greater voter proportionality for the typically
A recent Gallup Poll found if young people were to vote at about the
2010). The United States Census Bureau reported “voters 18 to 24 were the
afforded him the highest share of youth votes for any candidate since 1976,
when exit polls began reporting by age (Dahl 2008). Dahl (2008) quoted
John Della Volpe of the Harvard Institute of Politics, who stated, “The youth
vote is turning states that Obama would’ve lost or barely won into more
underrepresented voters.
problem and should not be happening because the United States has
expected to rise substantially between 1960 and 1996” (2001, 22). Political
Registration Act of 1993, should have increased voter registration and offset
historical levels.
Although it is well known that the United States has low voter turnout
compared to its own past. Most political scientists reason that the decline in
voter turnout has been gradual and part of generational changes related to
decline resulted from generational changes; he states, “Beneath the ups and
turnout is due to the gradual replacement of voters who came of age before
or during the New Deal and World War II by the generations who came of
age later” (33). These generational changes impact voter turnout based on
group demographics, and older groups are typically the most active toward
political participation.
The rise in Internet access and use of social media tools has facilitated
new and simple ways for people to engage in political participation and
sharing, and communications. Internet and social media tools have the
ability to close the gap between the characteristically active and non-active
information about the civic process and communicate in ways that influence
the tone of the campaign, the media focus, and group mobilization. The
Internet has paved the way for new forms of electronic communications to
evolve, and it has grown into a tool that facilitates the quick, global spread
newspaper and television” (29). The Internet makes it easier and cheaper to
share and gather large amounts of information, while also making it more
2003, 175). After the 1980s, commercialization of the Internet helped grow
Telecom Union’s Internet usage report reveals that the number of Internet
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users almost doubled between 1998 to 2000 to 142.823 million users, and
(International Telecom Union 2010). The 2010 figures reveal that roughly
of communication, and this gave it the power to greatly influence and impact
culture.
forums evolved from the Internet. E-mail is extremely common and often
at the time of writing there were close to 247 billion e-mail messages sent
Google.com, a search engine, was the number one visited website in the
world and was roughly visited by 45 percent of the world’s Internet users
participation” (Zhang et al. 2009, 78). Until recently Google and other
search engine sites held the top spots for the most visited websites on the
visited website in the world; this marked a shift from information sharing to
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(Pepitone 2010).
sites, social news sites, and video/photography sites. The key difference
that social media “helps facilitate communication about ideas that users are
These differences, coupled with the rise in Internet access, have allowed
Social media has quickly become the most popular way to spend time
online and has rapidly evolved into a largely used marketing tool due to its
more time on social networking and blog sites as well, with total minutes
increasing 210% year-over-year and the average time per person increasing
especially true for the young voters that are not typically active in traditional
et al. (2009) wrote, “social network sites may be bringing in new voters,
the typically inactive, youth voters that heavily use social media. This is
supported by the fact that “users under 35 represent 72% of those users
who make political use of social networks” (Lardinois 2009, 2). Social media
groups of people who may not have been active participants in other forms
The increasing role of the Internet in the United States has created new
Homero Zuniga, Aaron Veenstra, Emily Vrage, and Dhavan Shah who wrote,
democratic process online and offline” (2010, 38). These online tools provide
Political campaigns have the ability to close the gap on reasons not to
with these new online and social media tools. Tolbet and McNeal (2003)
role influencing electoral behavior” (175). These new online and social media
information to participate and online and social media tools provide new
With more and more people easily accessing the Internet and the
population using these tools will continue to rise. In fact, a report by Aaron
Smith, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry Brady (2009)
found the number of active participants in online and social media political
five internet users (19%) have posted material about political or social
issues or a used a social networking site for some form of civic or political
engagement. This works out to 14% of all adults—whether or not they are
Internet users” (Smith et al. 2009, 5). The Pew Research Institute August
networking site and that 31% of these social network members had
networking site. That works out to 10% of all Internet users who have
This research highlights the high number of social media users and points to
must use online and social media in today’s world to connect with people,
share content, collaborate, build relationships, and turn Internet users into
new media was not typically integrated into campaign’s overall marketing
plan. Even after 2008, digital marketer and advertiser Kate Kaye (2009)
declares there are still many reasons why political campaigns do not focus
consultants are conditioned to buying TV; they don’t understand how to buy
or target online ads; they don’t think their audience is online; web ads are
relatively inexpensive; they don’t believe online advertising can be used for
persuasion; they make far more commissions on TV ads than they do when
buying Web ads (23-24). These reasons point out the importance of
dedicating a staff person or team to its new media efforts, and examples of
Most political and social media experts agree that Barack Obama’s
2008 presidential campaign was the most successful online and social media
marketing campaign ever. David Greenberg (2008) even goes so far to say,
“There is no doubt in anyone with a brain cell that part of the reason Barack
internet presence and a solid policy for engaging his potential constituents in
ways that made them feel they were part of history” (2). The online focus of
registration and get out the vote efforts to younger people” (Kaye 2009, 5).
The Obama campaign successfully engaged social media tools as part of its
Social media strategist Brent Leary and Obama for America Campaign
Director David Bullock (2008) contend that the campaign was able to
people at the grass roots level. Engage people who have not participated in
shunning issues, and aiming to build grassroots support. Ads asked voters to
‘Sign Up for Initiations to Campaign Events’ and promoted them to join other
campaign supporters” (Kaye 2009, 35). Social media tools allowed the
2010 special election for the Massachusetts Senate seat of the late Ted
favor, but the unknown Scott Brown ended up winning. Most political
strategists credit Brown’s win to the fact that social media allowed him to
turn his “shoestring campaign into a much broader political movement” that
allowed others to use technology to organize “the passion and drive and
power of an idea” (Yan 2010, 3). This election demonstrated that online
comprehensive analysis and strategy. The primary research was in the form
of a quantitative survey that asked eligible voters about their own uses of
online and social media tools and inquired about the behaviors and
and social media tools have improved or deterred new forms of political
articles, and books relevant to the Capstone topic. The quantitative survey
gathered data to fill in the holes of the secondary data and allowed me to
amount of time.
Quantitative Survey
part and current beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors about voting, political
investigated the correlation between social media use, the types of political
and potential voters. Questions in this research focused on both how new
that these groups could distribute the survey to other members I do not
know. My friends and family members also shared the survey link with
respondents. The survey included text from the Informed Consent Form
(Appendix A)—which explained the research study’s purpose, the process for
assuring anonymity, and associated risks for engaging in the survey. The
e-mail request containing a common code, which was provided in the closing
statement.
Results
the responders reported that they were not eligible to register to vote
because of citizenship issues. One percent reported both that they do not
Respondents were asked what types of elections they have voted in. Ninety-
The third question asked respondents all the reasons why they vote, besides
the fact that are registered. Personal right was the top reason, reported by
that vote counts. The fourth question asked respondents to provide multiple
answers for where they research and gain information about who or what to
political forums in person (Figure 3). One person reported running for office
(Figure 4).
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5).
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The eighth asked respondents what types of online and social media tools
they most use frequently (Figure 6). Five percent reported “other” with each
The ninth question asked how often respondents used online and social
media tools. Zero percent of the respondents reported “never” and “seldom.”
Sixty-four percent reported using these tools very frequently (multiple times
per day). Thirty percent reported frequently (every day to once a week).
Three percent reported occasionally (once every few weeks). Two percent
reported very rarely (one every six months). One percent reported rarely
The tenth question asked the reason why respondents use political
campaigns’ online and social media tools (Figure 7). Sixty-five percent of the
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one percent reported that they do not using political campaigns’ online and
participate. Twenty-six percent reported that the tools are very important in
getting them to participate. Thirteen percent reported that the tools are of
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little importance, and twelve percent reported the tools are unimportant in
ability to use online and social media tools increased their participation with
Discussion
was learned from the research data and proposes recommendations for how
political campaigns can boost their new media strategies to improve their
are not using new media strategies as well as they could be and, as a result,
have not stimulated new forms of information sharing that could motivate
the electoral process is one factor for the decline in voter turnout that has
new media strategy into the overall marketing plan to provide new forms of
motivate voters to become more active in the political process. The data also
reveals that online and social media tools are frequently used by a
significant number of the voting age population in the United States, and are
new media strategy that aligns with the overall marketing plan, participate
campaigns have quickly adapted to using new media tools, they are not
being maximized through the development of new media strategies that are
consistent with the campaign’s overall goals. Online and social media tools
are rapidly evolving with new technology, but there are underlying new
potential voters. A decision to develop and set a new media strategy to the
of the campaign’s business and marketing goals, the target audience, and
separate silo within the campaign” (4). It is difficult to create a new media
and resources. The new media strategy needs to be developed as part of the
crucial because many political campaigns have not traditionally had staff or a
accomplish the steps outlined in the proposed new media plan. This
The main point is that a political campaign needs to understand that its
online and social media should be a specialty that is the focused job of a
staff member.
Share Information
political information and news through online and social media sources. This
voter information, relevant news and press releases, and other information
potential voters find important. A political campaign must make it easy for
people to find the information they are looking for, and political scientist
Daron Shaw (2001) agrees with this assertion: “People must have access to
The primary and secondary research lists voter uncertainty and limited
knowledge of the electoral process as two of the top reasons why people do
process. Political researcher Lynn Vavreck supports this assertion (2001) and
asserts, “Voters cannot learn what candidates do not tell them. If candidates
do not take positions on issues during campaigns, if they provide little clarity
what they believe and why, it is not surprising that voters will have high
about the election, the campaign, and their candidates’ opponents to help
political campaigns use these online and social media tools as effective ways
inactive eligible voters. A political campaign can use these online and social
media tools to share relevant information about the candidate, issues, voter
step further by monitoring and engaging with its constituents through its
online and social media channels. This requires regular listening and
monitoring in order to know what people are saying about the campaign. It
is almost guaranteed that people will be talking about the political campaign
no matter what, and it is crucial for the campaign to take control of its
about your product are happening online regardless of whether or not you
name, relevant issues, popular trends, news articles, videos, users, and
the candidate and his or her response to important issues. Monitoring and
with its constituents, because this type of engagement ensures people will
return to the campaign’s online and social media channels for the latest
assertion: “Staying silent is a good way to shun your followers and cause
them to turn to another provider for the same (or similar) services” (307). If
the monitoring reveals that people are talking about certain issues or
referring to other sites for information, the campaign must address these
issues by engaging users and providing them with the desired information as
conversations. The campaign should make sure engagement is based off its
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with online users will allow them to see that they are being heard by the
campaign and that their opinion matters. This will promote new relationships
allowing the campaign to appear more authentic with its message. Most
While you can pay to market politics online, it’s arguably better to
engage your network of supporters and let them spread the message
for you. Their reach and trust value far outweigh anything you could
broadcast or pay for. Once you have their attention, little calls to
using and sharing information from the campaign’s online and social media
channels. Political scientists support this assertion and reason, “when a voter
and his own political involvement will prod the government to respond, he
will be more likely to participate” (Burkhart et al. 1972, 13). Monitoring and
understand what potential voters find important, so it can adjust its message
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Motivate Participation
must provide new ways for potential voters to participate in the political
action that helps the campaign. A political campaign should ensure its online
and social media channels promote a specific way for how people can easily
participate in the political process and help the campaign win the election. As
political campaign’s new media strategy to include actions for users to take
registration or turnout. The use of online and social media tools effortlessly
registering to vote” (Smith et al. 2009, 14). The campaign can share all the
information it wants, but for it to be effective and earn real results the
campaign must direct and motivate people to perform a specific action after
in winning elections or in effective favorable public policy, are the ones that
27). Providing calls to action is a crucial part of having a solid new media
Measure Results
make sure to measure the performance of their new media strategies. Iis
wants to ensure its use of online and social media channels are achieving the
people are willing to join and connect with its online and social media
networks. A campaign should count, track, and compare its your total
other social network friends over time. Second, a campaign should measure
interactions with the campaign on its social media channels. Analyzing this
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will allow the campaign to see how people use and share its social media
channels. The campaign must look at how many people comment on status
information with others. This will help determine if people are using the
online and social media tools in a way that helps spread the word of the
campaign. If the channels are not having much activity, the campaign needs
to change the way it uses these tools by posting more interesting, up-to-
date, relative, and informative information that people want to share with
their friends.
Next, the political campaign must measure the traffic of its online and
social media tools, because traffic evaluates how often people are visiting
the campaign’s site and social media channels. It is crucial for campaign’s to
measure traffic, because it will allow the campaign to see how users find the
site, where users come from, how long users stay on the site, what pages
are consumed the most, and how many people actually visit the channels.
This will help determine if the campaign is utilizing its social media channels
in a way that drives people to want to learn more and gather information
from the campaign’s online and social media channels. It will also allow the
campaign change its social media strategy to post in a similar manner that
drives increased traffic. Fourth, the political campaign should measure how
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many people click through the campaign’s online and social media channels
will help determine if the campaign makes it easy and inviting for people to
online and social media tools. Influence evaluates how many people actively
share and promote the campaign’s information versus glance and leave to
find information elsewhere. Analyzing this will allow the campaign to see if it
is providing the information people are looking for or if people are going to
other channels for information. The campaign must look at how its messages
are influencing online communications, if its messages are popular, and if its
messages are showing up in search results. This will help the campaign
and up-to-date than the campaign’s online and social media channels. It will
also allow the campaign to determine if it is using its online and social media
tools in a way that provides people with the information they are searching
for. Measuring online and social media performance is a key suggestion for
political campaigns to make sure its new media strategy is promoting new
areas of study. Primarily, a study about online and social media use related
example, which demographics using these tools are growing the fastest, and
how this growth could impact the types of online political participation. Such
a study could lead to political campaigns utilizing these tools to create a new
media plan that targets and markets certain demographics toward a specific
that some campaigns have engaged and employed. This topic will continue
online and social media tools. There are many political campaigns that use
online and social media tools, and this could represent the beginning of a
major change to political campaign strategies and operations. The shift could
represent a change to the way people share information and engage with
others, which could change the way people participate in politics and with
With every Capstone, there are limitations and strengths regarding the
research. There are a few changes that would have strengthened the
project. After evaluating the electronic survey data that was collected, it
would have been more useful if respondents were asked to provide their age
would have been beneficial to distribute the survey in forms other than
that is arguably more active online and using social media; therefore, there
is the potential for sample bias. This research also was conducted during a
heated mid-term election year, and this could have some bearing on the
respondents.
research will benefit any political campaign wishing to utilize online and
always talk, most often complain, about the electoral process, and political
engaging users accordingly through online and social media tools. The
Conclusion
and online tools used by political campaigns as part of its overall strategy
eligible voters and promote opportunities for participation that are facilitated
With online and social media tools, political campaigns can easily share
information and educate eligible voters about the electoral process. A new
media strategy will also enable political campaigns to monitor what others
are saying about the campaign and what issues people find most important.
Understanding how people perceive the campaign will allow for more
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strategy enables political campaigns to keep better control of its image and
advantage of new technologies and trends. The research suggests that the
References
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http://msnbc.msn.com/id/27525497/.
http://wilburforce.org/pdf/Online_Tactics_and_Success.pdf.
Kaye, K. 2009. Campaign ’08: A turning point for digital media. Jersey
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the_demographics_o.php.
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http://gallup.com/poll/7150/elections-could- hinge-young-voter-
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growing-popularity.aspx
Pepitone, J. 2010. “Facebook traffic tops Google for the week.” CNN Money,
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/16/technology/facebook_most_visited
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http://mashable.com/2010/06/09/political-campaigns-social-media/
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http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting/past-
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Appendices
Participation in this study should take about 5-10 minutes of your time
and is strictly voluntary. The risks associated with this project are minimal.
If, however, you experience discomfort you may discontinue the interview at
any time. We respect your right to choose not to answer any questions that
otherwise entitled.
Your responses will be identified by code number only and will be kept
separate from information that could identify you. This is done to protect the
your individual data and any reports generated as a result of this study will
use only group averages and paraphrased wording. However, should any
3964. If you do not understand any part of the above statement, please ask
1) If you are not registered to vote in the United States, check all of the
a) I am registered to vote
k) Other
2) Which of the following types of elections have you voted in? (Check all
that apply.)
e) Runoff elections
f) Special elections
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3) Which of these reasons describes why you vote, besides the fact that
a) Personal right
b) Time available
c) Candidate choices
d) Election importance
h) Campaign platform
i) Social issues
k) Other
a) Politicians’ websites
d) Television ads
g) Television news
Dodsworth-53
Twitter, etc.)
i) Magazines or newspapers
k) Other
person?
a) Signed a petition
issue
l) Other
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a) Signed a petition
issue
l) Other
that apply.)
site
j) Other
8) What type of online and social media tools do you use most
c) Facebook
d) YouTube
e) E-mail
g) LinkedIn
h) MySpace
m) Other
9) How often do you use online and social media tools, such as those
listed in question 8?
g) Never
campaigns’ online and social media tools? (Check all that apply.)
b) To donate money
h) To find events
m) Other
11) How would you rate political campaigns’ use of online and social
participate
me to participate
getting me to participate
participate
12) How has the ability to use online and social media tools, such as
campaigns?