Internet Campaigning

One of the often cited strengths of Barack Obama's presidential campaign is how he used the internet as an effective medium. Obama was able to mobilize volunteers in the community-level and raise funds through the website my.barackobama.com. Interested volunteers just need to register for an account and would be able to find and interact with other supporters within their area. Obama was also able to reach out to his supporters, especially in the 18-29 year-old age group, through social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. There, he was able to coordinate the efforts of various user-created facebook groups. Youtube was also used for free advertising, as campaign materials were posted on their official channel. By the time election started, these campaign materials were said to be viewed for 14.5 million hours!

This framework for internet campaigning should be strongly considered by the candidates for the May 2010 elections. No longer should the internet be considered as merely an alternative form of media for campaigning, but should be put in the boat as that of radio, print, and television.

It should be noted that several candidates have already used the internet in the May 2007 elections. Senators Manny Villar, Mike Defensor, Migs Zubiri and Chiz Escudero put up websites which contained their track record, positions on issues and proposed policies. Kiko Pangilinan, on the other hand, created a Multiply and Youtube account named KTubed, which was a video diary of his day-to-day campaign acitivities. Trillanes made a blog, wherein he was able to address certain issues, especially that of the military. Despite these efforts, it can be seen that Philippine candidates have barely tapped into the potential of the internet for the purpose of election campaign.

However, we must also look into the lingering issues as to the effectivity of internet campaigning in the Philippines. The most obvious one is that a large percentage of the electorate either are not well-versed with the internet or simply do not have access to it. Another issue would be the regulation by the COMELEC of internet campaigning. As of now, their election rules only cover print and broadcast media.(In fact, one can engage in premature campaigning today, and would not technically fall under any prohibition!). The COMELEC has said that it intends to promulgate a resolution on such matter in the near future.

But despite these limitations, I believe that internet campaigning can still play a part in the upcoming elections, in terms of mobilizing and coordinating with volunteers. Just a few months ago, when Typhoon Ondoy struck, we have seen that social networking sites can be powerful medium in mobilizing volunteers.

Hopefully, candidates in the upcoming elections will be creative enough in their use of the internet for their campaign. The minimal costs used for this medium, at the very least, should be reason enough for them to consider exploiting its potential.

Monch Bacani

(1^st entry)