In this analysis my goal is to analyze the evolution of New Media use (Information Communication Technolgy) with emphasis on political parties’ campaigns to connect with voters (especially through internet and Web 2.0: Social bookmarking and blog rolls, Social networking/sharing, Tag clouds, RSS feeds, User generated content, Mobile phone campaigning, and Online collaboration). While this still represents a small percentage of public access for political news compared to Television today, younger generations are expected to increasingly use New Media rather than traditional media for election and party news.
The paper will include comparison of European parties use of ICT, discussion of Intracoder Reliability Exercises in coding web use by the parties, the archiving of websites, some Case Study examples, and a literature review.
Emphasis will especially build upon 1999 forward New Media research to show continuity and change with emphasis on Informing, Involving, Connecting, Mobilizing, Accessing, Designing, and Entertaining.
Initial findings are: In each electoral campaign over time, New Media increasingly used; Obama impacts latest trends; and more personalized elections (e.g. presidential) are more apt to use web 2.0.
