IMC Hawks Blog

Category: Political communication

  • Campaigning 2.0

    Social networking is the biggest thing to happen to political campaigns since television, and this medium is rapidly changing the way candidates reach voters.  We first saw heavy use of social media tactics with the 2008 presidential election.  You could “friend” the candidate you planed to vote for on Facebook or “follow” them on Twitter.  If you chose to do so, you were given access to immediate updates from the campaign trail and information on platforms in quick, bite-sized pieces of information that were easily digestible.  The trend of using social media in political campaigns has only strengthened since 2008; now almost all candidates have Facebook pages and a presence on other sights such as Twitter, Linkedin and Gist.

    Political campaigns are benefiting greatly from the use of social networking.  The sights help to lend transparency and credibility to political campaigns by eliminating a middleman.  Voters can go straight to a candidate’s Facebook page and read facts straight from the candidate, rather than receiving biased information from a third party.  Michigan House of Representatives member, Justin Amash, began posting his votes, along with a short explanation from the House floor as his Facebook statuses.  He immediately received feedback from his “friends”, both good and bad.  Since starting this, Amash has gained popularity and even announced his candidacy for the US Senate through his fan page.

    Social networking sites also offer the ability for candidates to access a wide variety of voters inexpensively.  Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and various other social networking sites also allow people to be the voice for candidates, which could either make or break them.  If a candidate has supporters touting their name all over their profile, then they are likely to receive more attention.  If people are constantly talking about how great somebody is then other people are going to think that candidate is a good choice.  Refer back to the last presidential election and this is seen clearly.

    All in all, social networking has evolved the way political campaigns are carried out.  No longer can candidates rely on traditional tactics, rather they have to continuously keep their publics informed through status updates, tweets, etc.

    Sarah McIntosh, Eliza Wadson, Jocelyn Walson, Sean O’Connell

     

  • It’s all Greek to me…

    The success of a political campaign is rooted in its ability to inspire its audience to believe in their politician’s leadership. They do this through signs, television commercials, various media outlets, newspapers, flyers, and perhaps the most effective means; speech.

    The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, divided the art of rhetorical persuasion into three categories: ethos, pathos, and logos.  Ethos appeals to one’s credibility. In others words, how believable and trustworthy is the speaker? Pathos inspires an emotional response in the audience. It establishes a connection with the speaker and their audience. Logos is how, for lack of a better word, logical and verifiable the message of the speaker resonates with the audience. These three rhetorical devices are used by successful politicians to persuade their potential voters and audiences to support their campaign.

    When a speaker successfully employs these rhetorical devices they can be a effective speaker. This could be seen in the Obama/McCain elections and the current local elections happening now. Obama was successful in his use the ancient Greek method of persuasion and therefore won the elections. At the end of our local elections it will be evident who the successful speakers were and who failed to implement Aristotle’s methods of persuasion.

    What made you vote the way you did? Was their positions on topics enough or did they have to persuade you to believe them? Let us know!

    Breanna Alexander

    Lauren Dehart

    Lauren Smith

    Kelly Wiley

  • .. And the ballots are in!

    It’s voting week! So, what can be more perfect than to talk about political communication?

    Political communication.. what’s that?! Political communication attempts to directly relay information to its publics. It is a form of communication between a politician and potential voters and is also directly comparable to corporate communication in a different form. Political Communication focuses on communication in public settings, which can include specific techniques such as persuasion, and include communication theories such as the argumentation theory.

    Let us remind you that corporate communication focuses on communication between and among individuals and groups in organizations. Political communication is very similar. In addition, it incorporates the essence of mass media and new media to enhance many aspects of a campaign.

    Marketing is a key component in both corporate communication and political communication. Regarding the 2010 elections, marketing techniques have really taken on a new spin. This new marketing spin has incorporated the use of the new advancement of social media. Within elections, social media is shaping the political landscape, as it is for many corporations. The idea of embedding social media into the campaigning aspect of politics has proven to have a huge importance in creating more channels as well as expanding networks that are able to reach high numbers of people today.

    Social Media has also allowed for the creation of virtual groups, which serve as a connection between like-minded people. This streamline of internet and social media allows these groups the ability to reach other to others, express their opinions and persuade them to follow their lead. This concept has shown to strengthen many politicians political campaigns.

    This technology has allowed us to reach new possibilities in both political communication and corporate communication. Tuesday, November 2nd is voting day. Use social media to check out the candidates and make sure to go VOTE!

    -Arielle Williams