KEVIN07, WEB 2.0 AND YOUNG VOTERS AT THE 2007 AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION
KEVIN07, WEB 2.0 AND YOUNG VOTERS AT THE 2007 AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

Summary/Abstract: While Australian political parties have maintained official websites for some years, the 2007 Australian Federal election saw the first significant integration of Web 2.0 technologies into a national election campaign. The two major parties – the conservative Liberal Party and the socialist Labor Party – both embraced blogs, flash animation, online video and popular social networking sites in an attempt to win votes, particularly in the 18 to 35 year-old demographic. The Labor Party was far more successful in using Web 2.0 and their online efforts were judged to have played a large role in winning the absolute majority of voters under the age of 35 to its platform on election day in November 2007. Closer analysis of available polling data, though, suggests that the Web 2.0 campaign was largely insignificant in attracting young voters and that the notion that online campaigning will win over young Australian voters is largely misplaced.

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