Why would I go to a candidates web page, what am I looking for?
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Platform
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Comparison of Platform with Competing Candidate
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Appearances
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Video clips of speeches
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Response to negative comments on platform
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Specific Plan of Action for Health Care
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Same with the Iraq War
I chose to examine Barack Obama’s website to see how effected I believe it is. When I first opened the website I was faced with what seemed like a mandatory sign up for invitations to Barack Obama events. There was not a skip button or anything of the sort visible, but if you click around and click on his picture, the webpage will navigate to his homepage without making you sign up. I thought this was very tricky on the webmasters part, but I’m sure is very successful in increasing information output to people to looked at his website. Once I was at the homepage I was pleased to see how very well organized everything was. The tabs made searching for stances on political issues, family background, or state information extremely simple. I thought it would be more difficult to receive this information, but I was pleasantly surprised. Barack Obama uses many forms of Web 2.0. He has links to his Facebook, MySpace, twitter, YouTube, flickr, blogging etc. that allows for easy access to the most recent information in whatever means the specific audience feels most comfortable with. I feel like his use of Web 2.0 has been vital in reaching the younger audiences especially. His website is full of archived videos, pictures, and speeches that Obama has participated in, making most public appearances public and easily examined/studied/or read for the first time. This brings politics to a greater number of households. I also like the clean cut, simplicity that Obama’s website has. It is very clean and precise looking, which gives the impression that information is extrememly easy to navigate and well catalogued, even if in reality it is not.
I next visited Hilary Clinton’s website. Her opening page was constructed exactly like Obama’s in that you had to fill out a form or click on her face. In Hilary’s case, I had to go through two different of those before I could even begin to look at her website. In fact, in almost all aspects, Hilary’s website is almost identical in principle to Barack Obama’s. I was able to find both of their platforms, family history, blogs, and video easily. Hilary also belongs to several networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and Youtube. Her webpage is not quite as easy to navigate as Obama’s, nor is it as clean cut looking.
The website presentation of a candidate is very important, even if only 8% visit their websites. They are very important because some people base their entire decision on voting based on what they read online. When information that improves the appearance of the candidate is readily available, it helps distract people from paying such a vast detail to the negative. I believe during this election and the elections to follow, the use of websites will become the main source of receiving news information. In this specific 2008 election, I feel as if the purpose of campaign websites is to get the attention of those who frequently use the computer, especially teenagers and those who are coming of age to vote.
