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Duncan O'Leary

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Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.

Posted by Duncan O'Leary at 2:22pm on Monday, 26th July 2004

The issue still being debated, however, is whether these blogs actually broaden the base of people participating. Some point to the massive fundraising effort which has seen Kerry outstrip Bush in recent months (and which saw Howard Dean receive a record number of donations to his campaign), but others remain skeptical, insisting instead that the internet has simply lowered the participation threshold for those already on board…

Comments

1
Howard Dean had mass internet-driven support, and it worked out for him? Wrong person with the right technology? Welcome political pyramid schemes?
Posted by Nicholas Earnshaw  at 4:06pm on Tuesday, 27th July 2004
2
It certainly seemed to work for him but the problem is that his perceived level of support never actually materialized in terms of votes. As you suggest part of this may be due to the screeching in Iowa, the fact that he blew all his budget on the first few primaries, and any number of other factors. There is a school of thought, though, that the internet simply allowed him to use the internet to make it easier for his existing supporters to donate to his campaign/generally participate, rather than encouraging new ones to do so. The link on the i-society blog has a number of suggestions as to why Dean bombed but I think this is the most convincing. Clay Shirky (who writes the explanation) argues that the 300 people turning up to meet in New York City in early 2003 was a typical example of this, saying “Prior to MeetUp, getting 300 people to turn out would have meant a huge and latent population of Dean supporters, but because MeetUp makes it easier to gather the faithful, it confused us into thinking that we were seeing an increase in Dean support, rather than a decrease in the hassle of organizing groups”. All that said however, I’d still like to think that blogs have the potential to go beyond being tools which simply galvanise natural supporters and generate funding; if people really are becoming less deferential and more demanding of information and the chance to make their voice heard, then maybe blogs can still play their part.
Posted by Duncan O'Leary  at 5:21pm on Tuesday, 27th July 2004

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