Home » Interviews » Election 2.0: How did the internet shape the general election?
Election 2.0: How did the internet shape the general election?
Answering your questions: Iain Dale, Mark Pack, James Evans and Alex Smith.
The 2010 General Election will live long in the memory for a variety of reasons - the end of New Labour, a surprising Con - Lib coalition, the first TV debates - but one crucial aspect of the campaign that had politicians and commentators chattering with excitement was the entrance of a new political player - the internet.
From satirical posters to cynical bloggers and, of course, let us not forget Twitter gossip worth its weight in retweets. Social networking and Web 2.0 opened the floor of the political debate to evryone and whilst the political parties did their best to tackle the wealth of new campaign opportunities open to them, the twitterati used their tools to tackle the politicians and dictate the news agenda.
There is no doubting the ubiquitous presence of the internet during the campaign, but the real questions that all the parties will be asking themselves are who were the winners and losers of the 'internet election'? Which blogs packed the biggest punches? And which parties turned online fervor into votes at the ballot box.
Here to answer your questions are our panel of the Web's finest political commentators:
Iain Dale - Iain's blog entitled 'Iain Dale's Diary' is one of the most widely-read political blogs in the UK, he is also an author and publisher of 'Total Politics' magazine.
Alex Smith - Editor of 'Labour List' - the left's answer to ConservativeHome 0 and a former council candidate who devised and directed the independent, grassroots organisation 'Drive for Obama' whilst in the US in 2007 - 08.
Mark Pack - Former Liberal Democrat Head of Innovations, Co-Editor of Lib Dem Voice, regular contributor to the Guardian and Total Politics and a keen speaker anywhere where internet electioneering is under the microscope.
James Evans - Founder of the neutral election site Hustings.com which was widely used by candidates and voters during the election and saw its traffic rise to 325,000 views during that time.
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People and Topics
Alex Smith (Click to show)
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@ Alex Smith
Looking back at LabourList's election content and campaign - if you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?
Answered by Alex Smith
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@ Alex Smith
The majority of Labour candidates did not even have any online donation facilities, let alone used them to their full potential. Why do you think this side of fundraising gets such short shrift and what... Show more »The majority of Labour candidates did not even have any online donation facilities, let alone used them to their full potential. Why do you think this side of fundraising gets such short shrift and what lessons could candidates learn from the ever-praised Obama campaign?
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@ Alex Smith
Does the fact that two candidates were rapidly deselected following ill-conceived tweets/online comments, show that it is unrealistic to expect truly open, honest and informal political dialogue onli... Show more »Does the fact that two candidates were rapidly deselected following ill-conceived tweets/online comments, show that it is unrealistic to expect truly open, honest and informal political dialogue online? Show less »
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All Election Panel (Click to show)
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@ All Election Panel
Do you think that a better online strategy from the Labour Party, with a concerted effort to get grassroots involvement much like David Miliband is doing now, could have rescued them at the election, ... Show more »Do you think that a better online strategy from the Labour Party, with a concerted effort to get grassroots involvement much like David Miliband is doing now, could have rescued them at the election, or were they doomed anyway? Show less »
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@ All Election Panel
Out of the Labour Leader Candidatetes, who do you think is shaping up to make best use of the internet for their campaigning?
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@ All Election Panel
What do you think of David Miliband’s nascent online campaign? Does it show he’s the only candidate who gets the long term, activist-centred nature of online campaigning?
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@ All Election Panel
Do you think The Times decision to go behind a paywall is a shrewd move or a disaster waiting to happen, and do you think in future we could see blogs putting up their own paywalls?
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@ All Election Panel
Will Twitter ever have enough mass appeal to have any serious effect on an election? Isn't it a very socially exclusive tool?
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@ All Election Panel
Which websites, blogs or twitterers do you feel made a) the biggest, and b) the most valuable contribution to the election debate?
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@ All Election Panel
Would you agree that only bloggers and tweeters are calling this an internet election? To the rest of us it was the TV Debate election.
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@ All Election Panel
Has the internet killed the election poster?
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Iain Dale (Click to show)
James Evans (Click to show)
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@ James Evans
What will we see from Hustings.com in time for the next general election, and will you have any projects between now and then?
Answered by James Evans
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@ James Evans
Was there any one Party which you found more willing to engage via your site, than the others?
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@ James Evans
Were there any suprises for you in the way the Parties ran their internet campaigns?
Answered by James Evans
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Mark Pack (Click to show)
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@ Mark Pack
Is there too much discussion about getting people involved in politics via the internet and not enough discussion about getting people who don't have access to the internet involved?
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@ Mark Pack
Do you think open data will have serious consequences for election campaigning, either nationally or locally? More so than social media perhaps?
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