This week we vote for the Dutch House of Representatives elections. Will this election campaign go down in history as the campaign in which social media finally broke through? In this ninth part in the series on social media and the elections, we look at how social media could be used to bind voters to parties.
In the run-up to the elections, we are bombarded with TV debates, interviews, commercials, reports, articles, opinion polls and social media campaigns. Through all these channels, politicians try to convey their message and vision of society to the widest possible audience. All this in the hope of getting the undecided voter to vote for him or her at the last minute.
Add to that a self-help package of overview lists and voting guides and the crowds are complete. A week before the elections, some 43% of voters did not know what to vote for.
Social media play a major role in these campaigns in 2012. There is constant tweeting france telegram data and social media analyses are discussed daily on TV and in newspapers. Campaign teams try to use social media to spin the debate in a favorable direction for their party. Take GroenLinks for example , which stays awake the last four days before the elections to answer phone calls, e-mails, tweets and Facebook messages.