In a result that would have looked unlikely even one year ago, let alone decades ago in the midst of the civil rights battles of the 60's, the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States of America owes a considerable amount to the power of the computer and the transformation of regular internet users into active contributors to persuade millions of disaffected younger Americans to place their vote.
In one of the most effective online political campaigns I have seen (and I have seen many), elements from both the official Obama campaign team and many online special interest groups developed exceptionally innovative strategies utilising a broad range of Web 2.0 tools to put their view across. One of the most effective I saw involved the 'viral' spread of a worst-case-scenario personalised news report: a person adds the name and email address of friends, who receive an innocuous email suggesting they are featured in a news report. This news report was fully personalised, and had their name Incorporated into the story as having been 'the person who failed to vote that handed John McCain the Presidency by one vote'.
Citizen journalism was also in play, and not in the usual 'letter-to-the-editor' way. Americans in record numbers used alternative platforms like blogs and YouTube videos to highlight errors made by candidates, put their opinion forward on issues that mattered most to them and persuade others to vote for their favourite candidate.
Obama rode a irresistible and nearly unstoppable wave of public emotion and determination, due in no small part from the ability of Obama supporters to utilise the internet for greater effect. Republicans will need to formulate strategies to engage voters using these techniques rapidly to ensure they have a hope of being competitive in future elections.
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