Party and candidate online political campaign strategies

Abstract

Digital activism and data analytics applied to the US Presidential elections of 2008, 2012 and 2016 helped consolidate “computational campaign management” as a strategic resource that implied a change of paradigm in our understanding of political communication during electoral campaigns. The use of the same tools and practices of political and electoral mobilization in the Spanish 2015 and 2016 elections proves that online campaigns are also becoming increasingly important in other less technologically developed democracies. The main changes brought about by the new paradigm are as follows. Firstly, the micro-segmentation and geo-localization of voters into very specific sectors that are then targeted messages tailored to their profiles. Secondly, the decisive role played by party supporters as intermediaries between parties and other voters, using their influence online. Moreover, the use of social media by political groups in order to generate an attractive discourse that will bypass those of otherwise hegemonic mass media. Among these significant transformations we can also identify technological forms of lobbying in small groups and primitive communities which somewhat mirror 19th century practices, while using 21st century technology.