Virtual campaigning for real votes

Today is the last day of the electoral campaign that will go down in history as the first one that registered a widespread and strategic use of internet, playing a bigger and more significant role than the last general elections.

Over the past five years internet has continued to grow and its interactive elements, embodied in the term Web 2.0, have been exploited to the full by the political parties and candidates with the active participation of online voters.

In the first days of the campaign it became quite clear that the PN was going to engage heavily with online users through a multitude of websites, social networking, and blogs. For the first time in history a prime minister had his very own website, complete with a blog, and held online chatting sessions with the public. His wife also contributed with her very own blog. Such a presence complemented the traditional forms of communication.

A Nationalist Party spokesman said the party "perceives ICT to be at par with other means of communication - allowing it to target particular facets of society that have taken on board ICT, the internet and the World Wide Web in their daily lives - for research, entertainment, studies, work, interaction or recreation or for sharing content."

The spokesman admitted that internet, just like any other means of communication, may have a direct and/or indirect influence on an individual's perception. Moreover, it allows users to discuss, comment, criticise, question and rebut each other openly and freely.

"Within the limits of legality, the internet has provided a true platform for freedom of expression , a fundamental right that the Nationalist Party has always believed in and strived to uphold."

The Malta Labour Party also made extensive use of internet, though interestingly enough, Nationalist sympathisers seemed to have a stronger presence online.

"While we believe that all techniques are valid, some appear to be more efficient than others when taking into consideration the specific target groups. TV, radio, newspaper and internet campaign advertising are all techniques made used of by the party to get its message across. We believe that through the use of the internet we are managing to reach out to the younger generation," explained an Malta Labour Party spokesman. "We cannot ignore the fact that in 2006, 33 per cent of the Maltese population regularly used internet compared to 10.5 per cent in 2000."

The two major parties spent energies and good money into virtual campaigning but Alternattiva Demokratika, with its limited financial resources and access to mainstream media, found in internet a cheap but effective way to put across its message. Yahoo discussion groups, Facebook and blogs were among the tools used.

"This helped us 'talk' to people and identify what people expect from our party. It is also a good tool for informal discussions about various issues. Supporters could send an electronic postcard from this site to their friends. Some candidates also blogged regularly," revealed an AD spokesman.

i-Tech tried to contact Azzjoni Nazzjonali but repeated attempts to get their views proved fruitless.

A spokesman for one of the outgoing government ministers described how their online campaign was well received. "We've strived to make the campaign revolve around Web 2.0 technologies, integrating traditional content such as news, regular e-mail shots and photo-albums, with as much multimedia content as possible, a blog, as well as participation in social networking sites like Facebook. The feedback to our efforts has been positive."

The current trends in online campaigning are set to develop further and he sees the future of campaigning going deeper online with virtual worlds hosting the already hot electoral exchanges.

"We could have done more, obviously," admitted the minister's spokesman. "We have not taken the plunge into virtual worlds, for example. The limited inter-operability between these worlds was also a determining factor in this regard. I have no doubt, though, that Second Life or whatever will take its place, come the next election, will become the new online battleground."

Carmen Sammut, lecturer in international relations at the University of Malta, has studied the Maltese media closely for her doctoral thesis and sees internet carving an important place in the Maltese media landscape.

"Interactivity enhances political communication and appeals to those individuals who may dismiss the closed discourses and perspectives that overwhelm most of the 'old' media," she said. "Parties are aware there is a new generation of young voters for whom ICT is a core part of everyday life, some of whom belong to a growing segment of free-thinking citizens, who may sway the electoral pendulum.

"The internet may have greater significance for the smaller parties, who do not control media sub-units. For them the internet can be a better channel to target the public. Even candidates resort to the net as a less expensive way to reach out to constituents. Yet knocking for attention on Facebook may not be as effective as door-to-door visits in this small society, where kulhadd jaf lil kulhadd and personal contact is still deemed to be meaningful."

However, there is a darker side too. She laments the fact that the net is also being exploited by groups/individuals who incite racial hatred and xenophobia. In the absence of internet regulation, this is a negative development.

"On its own, technology will not change the face of politics in Malta. Other social, political and economic developments will. Overall the internet provides an opportunity for critical democratic voices and it helps to extend political debates," concluded Dr Sammut.

That's exactly what happened on timesofmalta.com over the past few weeks.

"Timesofmalta.com definitely contributed to the political debate, with voters and even candidates themselves sharing their views. We were swamped by comments," confirmed Christopher Scicluna, editor of the website. "It was very exciting and enjoyable because you see democracy in action." For the first time ever timesofmalta.com had adverts from the political parties contesting, who will be glad to hear that the website registered an enormous increase in readership during the electoral campaign.

One wonders what would have happened if another Maltese portal, , was not silenced by its very owners, Go, at the beginning of the campaign. This left Maltese readers with only two independent news portals providing election-related breaking news, namely timesofmalta.com and maltamedia.com.

Maltese news websites, including timesofmalta.com, are expected to provide up-to-the-minute multimedia coverage during the voting on Saturday and the counting of votes as from Sunday morning.