By John Mark V. Tuazon

The 2010 presidential elections in May is going to be an election of firsts, among many others. It’s the first time in almost a decade that a new personality may be occupying the seat at Malacanang; it’s also the first time that the entire country will cast their votes through automated means; and, due largely to the sudden boom of social networking sites in the country, it may also be the first time that the battleground for courting precious votes is shifting to the cyberspace.

While it is apparent that previous elections have seen candidates utilizing the power of the Internet to further their campaigns, it can be observed that most of those who put up Web portals only did on the purpose of information dissemination, and not to actively engage the electorate in conversation.

However, the phenomenal victory of the first African-American US President Barack Obama changed all of that. Launching a campaign that tapped on the grassroots level through social networking, Obama harnessed the inherently collaborative nature of the Web to organize and mobilize his volunteers and supporters, sending him straight to the White House.

The rest, as they say, is history. And with the 2010 Presidential Elections approaching faster than the speed of thought, presidential candidates are scrambling to replicate Obama’s stunning victory, in hopes of landing themselves a seat at Malacañang. And with a majority of voters coming from an age range of 19 to 40 years old—also forming the bulk of Internet users in the Philippines—winning the online vote becomes a critical mission for candidates.

Computerworld Philippines invited the New Media Managers of two presidential candidates to exclusive
one-on-one interviews to discover how presidential bets are harnessing the power of the Web in furthering their candidacies. Other hopefuls were also invited but couldn’t make it within the allotted timeframe.

Channels
After much thought whether he should run for the presidency following his mother’s untimely death, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III finally broke the news in September, answering the clamor from various sectors of society.

This opened the floodgates for Aquino’s campaign, when an immediate mandate to “dominate the Internet” was given, according to Enteng Romano, head of the New Media Bureau of Aquino’s presidential campaign.

“The first assembly of volunteers happened on Sept. 13, 2009, after Noynoy declared he would run for the presidency,” Romano explains, adding that the plan was to be as “pervasive” and “inclusive” in their online efforts as possible.

This meant establishing presence in every available Web portal there is—from Facebook, to Twitter, and to
Multiply, among others. “We also post blogs posted on the official website (noynoy.ph), and our weekly newsletter is ongoing,” he adds.

Meanwhile, a fervent hope to reach out to the youth and an ongoing thrust for OFW welfare are just some of the reasons why Senator Manuel “Manny” Villar and his team took to the Web. “The online medium is primarily talking to the youth, as well as some opinion leaders,” explains Brian Edang, head of Villar’s New Media Team. “There are close to 30 million Filipinos online. If you want to talk to prospective voters, it’s a no-brainer to go the online way.”

Villar’s new media approach comes at a two-fold strategy: an official website that serves as a repository of relevant information about the Senator, and an active social media presence where voter engagement takes place. “Social networks are much more dynamic, so the interaction becomes personal,” relates Michael Palacios, one of the volunteers for new media campaign. “The website is primarily for straightforward content.”

Palacios said they don’t have a deliberate blogging presence, because blogs are considered “earned media.” “But we have done several blogging events in the past,” adds Natz Jose, another online volunteer. “Villar actually has the most number of engagements with bloggers thus far.”

As of writing, Aquino’s page on Facebook is composed of 621,719 fans, while Villar has 598,081 members. One of Aquino’s two Twitter sites has 30,618 followers, while the other has 1,210 following the account. Villar, however, has 998 followers on his Twitter page.

Investment
Most candidates would admit they leverage the vast potentials of the Internet mainly because it offers minimal burdening costs to its users. In rolling out their campaigns, both Aquino and Villar admit to spending little to no costs on online efforts, emphasizing that time is their only investment.

“We latch on to the spirit of volunteerism from our supporters,” says Aquino’s Romano. “That is why the cost is almost negligible. We just pay for a marginal price for the website’s hosting.”

Villar, on the other hand, is criticized mostly for his generous spending on advertisements on television, radio, and print. New media is not an exception to this, if advertisements on Facebook and Google’s ad program Adsense are to be observed.

Edang, however, dispelled speculations that these advertisements directly came from Villar’s camp. “It may have been started by volunteers, but as far as we are concerned, those ad campaigns have not been run by us.”

Conversation
The Internet being a democratic space where users can freely express their opinion, a variety of messages are easily formed and disseminated, especially matters of national concern. Aquino and Villar’s new media teams say they are satisfied with the way their messages are being received, saying the success of their efforts are evidenced heavily by the mounting number of their fans, followers, and volunteers.

“Most of the people responding to our posts are supporters, but there are also naysayers—also called online trolls—who have opposing views,” Romano says. Dealing with these confrontational users becomes sketchy, Romano explains, because issues of censorship comes to play. “The general rule is to let their messages stay on the site. If they hit below the belt, that’s when we take them out,” he elaborates.

Villar’s campaign, meanwhile, is built on positive vibes, so people are dissuaded from mudslinging. “As much as possible, we focus only on things relating to Villar, and avoid posting messages that attack other candidates,” Palacios clarifies.

But message is rendered inconsequential if not translated to action. Aquino’s Romano admits that even if the Internet presents a higher level of engagement with the voters, the team’s online efforts are concentrated to disseminating quick information to supporters. “We are not that sophisticated yet in our online channels that are used to organize volunteers, just as what Obama had done,” he quips, adding that online efforts of politicians in the Philippines may never come close to what Obama has done in the United States, where his online campaign efforts drew massive donations.

For the part of Villar, Palacios says the efforts have been a healthy mix of information dissemination and calls to action. “Our efforts online get translated to real-life action, judging by the increasing number of our volunteers,” he points out. “We are opening the doors for them to act.”

While they don’t have a stable volunteer management system right now, Palacios says something of the sort may be in the offing. “We are looking into it, so that our volunteers can organize themselves,” he says.

“But right now we are focused on making sure that the message we are sending out stays the same.”

Online Marketing
For all intents and purposes, the presidential candidates’ online campaigns are very much comparable to a burgeoning Internet practice of online marketing, where social media and search engine optimization are heavily utilized.

“Considering that social media is still a relatively new thing for many politicians, those who have an online presence have done a generally good job in using social media to get their messages across,” notes Joey Alarilla, social media editor of Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

Despite stellar initial performance, Alarilla says candidates and their teams still have a lot to learn about the dynamics of the Web. “They have to adjust to the culture and dynamics of online communities, and realize that online users are not just passive consumers, but also news producers in their own right,” he emphasizes, adding that user-generated content propagated by new media users are a more relevant gauge of campaign impact than the simple number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers.

In matters of messages delivered, Alarilla suggests a more passive approach for new media campaign managers. “They should listen more, instead of trying to do all the talking. So instead of bombarding follow ers with their campaign messages, focus more on replying to their questions and following their suggestions,” he says.

Alarilla says campaign efforts should also go “beyond just posting the same long, boring speech online,” since it is mostly the youth who have firmly embraced social media. “They should understand that new media isn’t just the online version of what worked for traditional media,” he adds.

Needless to say, Alarilla believes that the inherent swiftness of new media can’t be easily translated to the speed of services rendered by politicians eventually bagging the positions they campaigned for. “Voters, especially those who are used to real-time results in an online world characterized by instant messages and status updates, should remember that problems can’t be magically solved overnight in the real world. Just as politicians should remember that online popularity does not automatically translate to victory in the elections,” he quips.

Possibly Related Posts:

• IT Budgets on the Rise
• Veering into Virtualization
• BUSINESS AS USUAL: Picking up where you left
• IT Outsourcing Reaching Out to Reach Further
• Forecast 2012

 Print This Post