Here I did a story for FOCUS Online on the Obama election campaign and how the German parties position themselves online in the national election year 2009. What do you think? Is Germany ready for an internet driven election campaign?
Like no other president before him, Obama has managed to mobilize and inspire the American people to get involved in politics. Looking back at his campaign, it is the internet which provided a major political news source for Americans. Referring to PEW Research, nearly a quarter of Americans said that they recieved regular information about the campaign over the internet.
I am anxious to see how this effect will influence the election campaign in Germany. The German parties and their candidates will definitely not be able to campaign without the internet. An opinion survey about the changes in the information and communication culture carried out by the Allensbach Institute shows that the internet has become the number one source of information. 59% of all 14 to 64 year olds go online several times a day to keep abreast of current events. It is particulary the social networks like Facebook, MySpace, StudiVZ and YouTube that are gaining in importance.
Interested in the analysis the German political parties with regard to their activities in the social web? You can find our DLD internet politics study here.
