Politicians Online

A lot of politicians are now using the internet to increase their exposure and bolster their campaign in the upcoming elections. True, TV ads may give the best nationwide exposure for candidates, but more and more political aspirants are beginning to realize the value of reaching out to the growing online community. 2007 statistics from AC Nielsen showed that there are approximately 14 million online users in the Philippines. A number which still continues to steadily grow .

Thus, politicians have started to establish personal websites. Some of these are http://www.kiko.ph/, http://www.kabayannoli.com/, http://www.noynoy.ph/, http://www.chizescudero.com/, http://www.jambymadrigal.com/.

They have also tapped social networking websites such as facebook and friendster.

Some even try to share spontaneous thoughts and views through twitter and plurk. Senator Kiko Pangilinan on plur said: "kikopangilinan had a very busy morning playtime with 4 year old Miel painting 4 planets namely Mars, the Earth, Uranus, Saturn and the Sun." and "kikopangilinan tutored my 8 year old 3rd grader for her unit tests in English, Science and Filipino. Can't help it, must be the teacher in me.

And more recently, political aspirants are recognizing the growing influence of blogs to the online community. For example, Senator Manny Villar has been said to be meeting with well-known bloggers such as Cecile Zamora Van Straten, *probably, to gain support for the upcoming elections. (story found here)

Indeed, it will be interesting to see how this new campaign trend will affect the upcoming 2010 elections.