Just how will technology be part of the story in the 2012 election? Here are four possible ways

1. December 2, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
4 Possible Ways Technology Will Effect
Politics In 2012
4 Possible Ways Technology Will Effect in dissemination of messaging as well as fundrai-
Politics In 2012 sing.
CloudTags: technology , politics , 2012 , Dell ins- In both elections, the growth of online video proved
piron 1545 batteries , Hp probook 4310s battery important; 2004 saw mainly short-form political en-
life , Lenovo thinkpad t61 laptop battery tertainment/commentary from the likes of JibJab,
but by 2008 both parties saw online video as a real
competitive weapon, and YouTube became the tes-
ting ground in efforts to find a “Daisy”-like message
to sway voters.
Just how will technology be part of the story in the
2012 election? Here are four possible ways:
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/4-possible-ways-technology-will-effect-politics-in-2012/
Mobile
Since money is, for better and for worse, the life-
blood of American election politics, it seems there
are always new ways to utilize technology to raise
money. Just a few years ago, it was novel to have
a website as a central way to raise money for an
election on the Internet, and more recently, social
media has become an important part of fundraising
for any campaign.
Another presidential election year is a month away, So what technology could play an important role in
and just as with every election cycle, technology fundraising in 2012? The simple answer is the mo-
will play a critical role in determining who the next bile phone. We’ve already seen Square being used
President of the United States will be. at political fundraisers and multipurpose mobile
apps like Mobilecause for fundraising and commu-
Have your doubts? Just look at the last two elections. nication, and as I’ve written previously, there’s no
reason in-app payments couldn’t be extended to
In 2004, the rise of blogs opened the door to an in- appssuch as enhanced e-books. Expect all the major
fluential new source of political commentary outside candidates to make mobile a big part of their fun-
the traditional press,while in 2008, we witnessed draising and messaging efforts throughout the year.
the rapid rise of social media (and the Obama cam-
paign’s early embrace of it), which played a big role If 2008 was the year Facebook wagged the dog in
terms of social media’s impact on politics, 2012
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2. December 2, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
4 Possible Ways Technology Will Effect Politics In 2012
might be the year in which Twitter could prove de- of profiling and behavioral data could give them a
cisive. Over the past few years, Twitter has become significant advantage over their opponent. Politi-
the new real-time newswire for influencers and the cal campaigns have already proven themselves to
media, and it has emerged as a way for candidates be fairly advanced users of polling analytics and
to connect directly to constituents without the filter there is no doubt that campaigns will only double
of campaign managers and media experts. down this election cycle on data scientists to possibly
squeeze more advantages out of the huge cache of
However, Twitter has also shown why a filter is new data available from a variety of new sources.
sometimes necessary. The unfortunately (and ap-
propriately) named Congressman Anthony Weiner Internet activism
got his own “gate” as a result ofaccidentally tweeting
lewd photos of himself, and other politicians in the In 2010 and 2011, one of the biggest political stories
States andelsewhere have shown it’s all too easy to of all had nothing to do with traditional political
hit that tweet button. establishments, but instead was about the rise of a
new form of political activism on the Internet. Wi-
With more politicians tweeting and at greater fre- kileaks showed how by releasing huge caches of
quency, there’s no doubt Twitter could play a big role documents about political actors online could des-
in 2012, and in possibly unforeseen and unwanted tabilize traditional policial establishments, while
ways. new groups such as Anonymous showed that the
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/4-possible-ways-technology-will-effect-politics-in-2012/
Internet is the new frontier for civil disobedience.
Big Data Analytics
How will the use of Internet political activism take
shape in 2012? It’s impossible to predict at this point,
other than to say there’s a high likelihood that new
and existing groups will likely try to make their
voices heard in new and unforeseen ways, making
this new frontier of Internet activism perhaps the
biggest x-factor of all in next year’s Presidential
election.
Read More: 7 Bestest Technology Ripoffs of 2011
CES News
While Facebook proved significant in 2008 as a way Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment
to build a following for a candidate, it was early days below and continue the conversation, or subscribe
for social media and big data analytics in general. to my feed and get articles like this delivered auto-
Four years later, it is likely savvy use of analytics by a matically to your feed reader.
candidate to sift through the mountains of data made
available through social, mobile and other types
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