TOPIC: The Use of Web 2.0 Technologies as

political campaigning tools for the 2012 December Elections in Ghana

(An evaluation of the activities of the two major political parties -NPP & NDC

ByAdwoa S. Amankwah(CSUC), Dr.E. Bossman Asare

(Political Science Dep’t –UG) and Ginn Assibey Bonsu Department of Communication Studies-CSUC

BackgroundCitizens need factual and credible information in a democracy to enable them make independent judgments and informed choices.

Social media- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and videos on YouTube- enabler for information exchange between citizens and their governments (U. S. States Dept. 2012).

BACKGROUNDPoliticians and journalists originate and moderate those political discourses. Now the development of Web 2.0 technologies and social media enhances content creation by users.

Channels - political blogs or discussion forums, chat rooms etc. Implication- “gatekeeper” role of journalists - minimised (Stieglitz, S.; Brockman, T. and Dang_Xuan, L. (2012).

BACKGROUND

Young voters spend more time online on social networks such as Facebook or MySpace than watching television or reading newspapers (Stieglitz, S.; Brockmann, T. and Dang-Xuan, L. 2012, OECD, 2009).

Especially young people were inspired to engage in political discussions after getting in touch with them by using social software as the communication platform (Chen 2009; Kushin & Kichener 2009).

INTRODUCTION

“A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both,” -4th U.S. president, James Madison, in 1822. 35th president, John F. Kennedy, 1922“The flow of ideas, the capacity to make informed choices, the ability to criticize, all of the assumptions on which political democracy rests, depend largely on communications” (U.S. State Dept.-2012).

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM•Paucity of information on the use of web 2.0 technologies for political campaigning in developing countries particularly Ghana.•Political interaction on social media is typically asynchronous•Thus the Internet has not been fully used to increase interactivity in election campaigns (Gong & Lips, 2009).This is attributed to fears of ‘opening the gate’ for attacks from their opponents (Coleman, 2001; Ward, et. Al., 2006).

PURPOSE

1. To find out the online agenda of the two political parties and recipients’ expectations according to the comments and responses of users.

2. To examine the communication model appropriate for online interaction in a participatory democracy of a developing country.

OBJECTIVES

1. Determine the predominant themes of the agenda set by the two political parties and myjoyonline on their websites and social media platforms.

2. Gauge the responses of users of Web 2.0 technologies to determine the issues they want addressed by politicians.

3. Outline the political sentiments of the language used by politicians and their followers on the formers’ websites and social media platforms.

4. Determine whether communication on web 2.0 technologies is symmetrical or asymmetrical.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the relationship between both the NPP and NDC ideologies and their manifestoes?

2. What are the predominant themes of stories and headlines that set the agenda on the websites of the NPP, NDC and Myjoyonline?

3. What is the link between the major themes in their manifestoes and their postings?

4. What is the link between postings by politicians and comments by users?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

5. Is there any relationship between the issues raised by users of social media and the social reality?

6. What are the elements of propaganda in the agenda set by politicians as well as in the responses of users?

7. What is the language used by politicians and their followers on web 2.0 technologies in the campaigning season?

8. Is there any association between the agenda set by politicians, the responses of users of the social media and the outcome of the elections?

JUSTIFICATION/SIGNIFICANCE

The study will provide information on the effective use of web 2.0 technologies for synchronous political campaigning in a participatory democracy.

The results will benefit • Political parties. • Politicians. • Stakeholders in the ICT industry in Ghana, Africa and

the international community.

2.0 Web 2.0 Technologies and political campaigning

• Definitionof Key Concepts• - Political Campaigning• - Elections• -Political Party• -Public Paricipation• -Content Analysis• -LIWC (2007)

2.2 New Media

• Facebook• Twitter• Websites

Overview of related studiesCreighton (2005) defines public participation as the process by which public concerns, needs and values are incorporated into governmental and corporate decision-making. Thus e-participation is the process of using the Internet to create dialogue between the elected and the electorate.

Related to this concept, Karpf (2009) introduces the notion of “Politics 2.0”, i.e. using the internet reduced transaction costs and its condition of information abundance to build more participatory, interactive political institutions.

Overview of related studiesThe recent U.S. presidential campaign in 2008 has shown that Web 2.0 has become an important tool for political communication and persuasion (Towner et. Al. 2011; Hoffner & Rehkoff 2011).

Honeycutt and Herring (2009) showed that Twitter is used not only for one-way communication but often serves as a means of conversation, (the @ sign symbolises a dialogue).

Global and national trends in internet usageBACKGROUND

Ghana has a population of 24, 658, 823 million people. Out of this number, 16,595,387 representing 67.3% are literate (Ghana Statistical Service, 2010 Housing and Population Census). Two million three hundred and twenty-nine thousand four hundred and nineteen (2,329,419) representing representing 9.45% of the total population are internet users (CIA World Factbook, 2009). Within this category facebook users comprise 1,644,560 (6.67%) whiles Twitter users are …

Global and national trends in internet usage

1 2 3 40

5000000

10000000

15000000

20000000

25000000

30000000

Series1

Population of Ghana

Literates in Ghana

Internet users in Ghana

Facebook users in Ghana

Keys

LIKES FOR NPP AND NDCSubscriber base as in likes for the Facebook page –NPP’s

Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo is 164, 185 represent 9.98% of facebook users in Ghana

101, 158 likes (6.15% of facebook users in Ghana- NDC’s President John Dramani Mahama

LIKES FOR NPP AND NDC

1 20

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

Series1

Likes for the Facebook page of the presidential candidates of the major parties

likes for Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo

likes for President John Dramani Mahama

Information on political parties, the EC and CDD

• New Patriotic Party (NPP); aims, objectives and core themes in manifesto.

• National Democratic Congress (NDC); aims, objectives and core themes in manifesto.

• Myjoyonline.com. • Center for Democratic Development (CDD); purpose

and functions.• Electoral Commission (EC) ; same as above.

3.0 An overview of theories of communication for political development

• Agenda Setting Theory – McCombs and Shaw (1972, McQuail, 2008)

• Uses and Gratifications Theory (Elihu Katz) (McQuail, 2008; Perse, 1990).

• Symmetrical and Assymmetrical Communication Model (Grunig and Hunt) (Chapplet and Kitchenmann, 2005; Gong and Lips 2009).

AGENDA SETTING THEORYThe agenda setting theory (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). They held the view that the news media construct our view of the world. Agenda-Setting posits that the media always set the agenda, that is, those items the media deem important is identical to the public agenda, or what the public deems important.

AGENDA SETTING THEORYThe arrival of the internet and the new media present several and diverse relevant sources of news. With the advent of web 2.0 technologies, public debate is represented by a set of salient issues and the agenda originates from public opinion (McQuail, 2008).

The media then offer competing views on issues; people tend to attend selectively to sources of news and messages they already agree with, leading to reinforcement and not a change of opinion (McQuail, 2008).

USES AND GRATIFICATION

This approach derives from the search for explanations of the great appeal of certain staple media (new media) contents that border on the question of why people use the media and what they use them for.

Audiences are motivated to use the media for purposes of information, relaxation, companionship, diversion or escape; personal guidance, relaxation, adjustment, information and identity formation (McQuail, 2008; Perse, 1990).

1. The two-way asymmetrical/asynchronic model It allows delayed interaction between both sides- neither

party can choose to interact in accordance with their convenient time (Chapplet and Kitchenmann, 2005; Gong and Lips 2009). Egs. Emails, blogs, forums or campaign sites for discussion etc.

2. Two-way symmetrical/synchronic model Chapplet and Kitchenmann, 2005; Gong and Lips 2009- This

allows parties and candidates to interact in real time with voters. This takes the form of either instant messaging or on-line conferencing.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

4.0 METHODOLOGYResearch DesignIt is a exploratory study that compares the Websites of the

NPP and NDC and their corresponding social media platforms – Twitter & Facebook

Data Analysis ToolsContent analysis would be used for the website content of this study. The Linguistic Inquiry Word Count Software (LIWC 2007) by Pennebaker and Chung would be used to analyse the social media content i.e political sentiments, mood, tone and expectations of senders of the posts and tweets as well as those of the users.

Population: Website content of the NPP, the NDC and myjoyonline.com as well as their social media content as in posts and comments on Facebook and tweets and responses on Twitter for the study period within the 2012 election year.Sample Size: Website Content NPP: NDC: myjoyonline:FacebookNPP: NDC: myjoyonline:TwitterNPP: NDC: myjoyonline:

SAMPLING

Study PeriodThe period of 7th October to 4th December was chosen for inclusion in the sample. We purposively selected the last quarter of the year because that is when effective campaigning intensified and the political parties’ agenda were more clearly defined.

Sampling TechniqueWith a systematc random start of 7th October, every other day’s content was selected for inclusion and analysis in this study, giving us a total of 30 days’ web content.

• Sampling Unit: Post, Tweet, Comment

Data collection methods• Document ReviewData Collection Instruments• Coding Sheets• Coding ScheduleData Source: Primary Data – Unused data onlineSecondary Data: Literature – previous studiesdataDATA ANALYSIS METHODS

DATA ANALYSIS METHODS

• The Study uses the Predictive Analytic Software to generate descriptive statistics- frequencies and percentages and graphs

• Documentary Analysis to establish correlation

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION

Operate according to strict ethical standards of non-partisanship and the use of the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC-2007) to ensure a higher level of objectivity.

RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR THE STUDY

• Internet Usage• Printing Costs• Coders Allowances: • References• Appendices

REFERENCES

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