Campaign Season Brings Online Innovations, Privacy Concerns

“Most voters expect candidates to have a serious Web presence,” said Lee Rainie, dir.-Pew Internet & American Life Project. Online campaigners can reach the most intelligent, most plugged-in voters, Carol Darr, dir.-Institute of Politics, Democracy & the Internet at George Washington U., said: “The Internet population is a golden population of people who are active, involved in their communities, give political contributions and forward e-mails.”

The Internet hasn’t eclipsed broadcasting as the preferred medium for political ads, but it is “essential,” and evolving, Rainie said: “You have to add an interactive model. Most active citizens expect to be able to interact with campaigns online… They want to sign up for e-mail lists, comment on blogs. There’s a whole host of ways that people expect a two-way flow of communication.”

With all the features new technology offers, candidates shouldn’t forget what voters really want to see. “A good website is like a good party. Somebody greets you at the door, asks you what you're interested in,” Darr said: “Just because a site has bells and whistles doesn’t make it a good party. It’s a good website if people want to look at it” and can get information on the candidate, staff and platform.

Some important technologies are new this election season. YouTube’s video sharing site may not “make or break [a candidate] but it’s another way for candidates and active citizens to pitch their voices into the virtual commons,” Rainie said. As blogs did in 2004, YouTube is teaching this year’s candidates that they, their parties and mainstream media no longer control politics. The person at the rally with the cell phone camera does, Darr said: “Convenience is everything, everybody is overworked, overstressed, oversubscribed. All it takes is a little creativity -- get some footage on your cell phone.”

Sen. Allen (R-Va.) learned about YouTube’s power when it showed a video of him calling an Indian-American working for his rival “Macaca.” Rarely is a phenomenon like YouTube “going to be a positive force,” Darr said: “Nobody can be out in the public for 16 hours a day and be perfect for 6 months. Positive things that are on tape, the candidates themselves will put out.” The “gotcha” moments find their way online, she said. Former Va. Gov. Mark Warner, co- founder of Nextel, has embraced new technology, becoming the first politician to hold a town hall meeting on virtual reality game Second Life (WID Sept 1 p3).

More campaigns are sending cellphone text messages to boost support and inform supporters. Cherry Tree Mobile, which provides text message services for campaigns, promotes “impulse activism,” which lets politicians and handlers “get a response immediately” without directing message recipients to a site. Campaigns can add potential supporters to a database, with permission, and ask them to weigh in on bills, call the White House to complain or check out online candidate updates. Messages could drive fund raising. “Contribute now by sending us a text message with the words ‘Democracy Now!'” the company site said: “The possibilities are only as limited as an organization’s creativity.”

Social networking sites like MySpace.com can create more interactive campaign experiences, Rainie said. Political use of social network sites is “in its infancy,” Rainie said. “No campaign will live or die on this, but it’s part of the political playbook for some campaigns.” Phil Angelides, Democratic nominee for Cal. governor, didn’t set up his own MySpace page; his teenaged daughter did. His campaign staff eventually warmed to the idea. Supporters of Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) maintain unofficial pages for their favorites.

Privacy Pitfalls Unknown

When voters go online to research candidates, they may not realize they reveal information, said Lillie Coney, assoc. dir.-Electronic Privacy Information Center. “The overall focus has been moving toward voter profiling,” she said: “The campaigns know more about the voter than the voter knows about the candidate.” Site user data is mined with cookies and activity monitoring and used to shape political messages, she said. In the process, “privacy lines may be crossed. I don’t think people even consider that this is a possibility when they voluntarily visit a site,” she said.

Responsible campaign sites should have privacy statements and allow people to opt out, she said. “Transparency is always a better response. Unfortunately a lot of campaigns share info about [financial] contributors, which voters may not fully appreciate. If that’s clearly available through a privacy statement,” they can make informed decisions, she said: “The drive to want to profile voters is out there. In an online environment that motivation won’t be minimized. We'd like to make sure that voters and consumers are aware of this.” Politics is just starting to catch on to all the ways to make a “digital record” of a user. Customization and data mining might spare users inboxes full of spam, she said: “You can send out an e-mail and spam everybody or you can -- through data mining technology -- figure out who [cares about a particular issue]. But to do that they have to invade your privacy.”