Web 2.0 Technologies for Election Campaigning in Sri Lanka

Background Presidential Election, Jan. 2010 - Web 2.0 Tools for Campaigning Presidential Election, Jan. 2010 Internet has been a very popular media for election campaigning in different Observations parts of the world. Sri Lanka is a country with regular elections and the Mahinda Rajapaksa at Facebook Sarath Fonseka at Facebook  Only 2 candidates among 22 have utilized web technologies effectively. internet usage is growing fast during last few years. However, the use of  Mahinda Rajapaksha has a better web presence as, internet and web technologies for political campaigning is still emerging. By  Official website with superior quality 2009, all the major parties hosted their party websites and some national  High advertising budget politicians maintained effective web presence via their personal websites.  Effective use of web 2.0 technology However, not much research done on web-based campaigning in Sri Lankan  Natural advantage as the president elections. Therefore this research is an attempt to study the use of web based  Sarath Fonseka has emerged as a strong campaigner on the web as he technologies in campaigning in Sri Lankan elections. has created a highly interactive dialog among voters in the web space

Research Objectives  Both candidates have extensively used web technologies for campaigning Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Twitter Sarath Fonseka’s Twitter 1.To find out the extend of web 2.0 technologies for campaigning  Following improvements are possible,

2.To identify the particular technologies used and the campaign strategies  Integrated approach with other promotional channels followed  Personalized approach

 More space for interaction and transactions 3.To evaluate the effectiveness of web based technologies used in final  Continuous web presence election results

Limitations of the Research Data Collection  Research could not be used for predictions  Western Provincial Council Election -April 2009  Limited Internet access by the voters ( only 20% of the population)  Presidential Election - Jan. 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksa Facebook Fan groups Sarath Fonseka Facebook Fan groups  Users are mainly young, educated and urban participants  Parliamentary Elections – April 2010  Lack of access to relevant data such as financing and user statistics

 More analysis required using qualitative aspects Methodology  No post-election data  Online Research– Details of all candidates were studied for their web presence. (e.g.- Google searchability, personal website, face book entry, Conclusions other network listing ect. The main candidates who had high web presence  Internet is a powerful media in carrying out election campaigning (Official website, active participation in social networking, on line  Web 2.0 technologies are effective and economical set of tools to reach candidateship, online advertising ect.) were studied in detail. target audience  Focus Group Discussions– Held on evaluating the official sites and web  It is necessary to learn the “rules of the game” on the web space to carry presence of above candidates were conducted with the participation of web Facebook Fan Groups Membership Analysis No. of Group Members in the Facebook Fan Groups out a successful campaign experts. Cummulative No. of Members in the Fan Groups 80000 100000  Full potential of this new media is yet to be realized in Sri Lanka 60000  Questionnaire/ Personal Interviews– Conducted with the candidates/ 90000 40000 80000 MR 20000 70000 campaign managers on their web based activities in comparison to other SF

No.of Members 0 60000 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 promotional activities. No. of Members 50000 Chaminda Hettiarachchi MR 46400 13500 15400 14100 2200 1600 700 700 300 300 40000 SF 58000 19500 4000 3700 2700 1800 1500 800 600 500 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 University of Sri Jayewardenepura  Election Results compared against the campaign effectiveness. Fan Group No Fan group No Colombo, Sri Lanka [email protected]