The rule does not just apply
In these weeks, SP , PvdA and D66 attracted the most attention online. Remarkably enough, the peaks are only the result of offline activities. However, that did not automatically result in the largest gain in votes. So, the rule 'much online attention = many votes' does not seem to apply. However, when we look at the messages on news sites and weblogs where the parties are discussed , it appears that at least the CDA , which eventually became the largest party, received the most attention in the weeks before the elections.
election-result-alphen-vs-media-attention-on-sites-weblogs
Unwritten election law 2: claim recognizable spearheads
Each party intends to profile itself on a few recognizable spearheads. The trick is to consistently attract attention with those spearheads. In order to test how well each party succeeded in doing this on Twitter, we looked at which themes politicians and parties talked about. Below are the themes of the six parties that were most visible online:theme parties
Matching themes
For example, the SP had as a spearhead 'the preservation of local facilities'. However, SP members on Twitter often spoke about themes such as traffic and sustainability. Conversely, the SP was the only party that joined forces when sending messages with many retweets. This resulted in a high reach.
The VVD has a better online match with themes such as traffic, entrepreneurship and safety, but they were the biggest losers during the reorganization elections. Did their message not appeal? Were they, as a coalition party, blamed for the failed construction projects in Alphen and Boskoop? Or was it due to the declining popularity of the VVD at a national level? We will discuss this in the second part of this two-part series.
Unwritten election law 3: tap into issues of the population
Do politicians tap into what the population is experiencing? To do this, we looked at the topics that citizens – with voting rights and who live in the municipalities according to their bio and most frequently used geo-positions – tweeted about. Admittedly, there were only a few hundred of them, and of course citizens do not talk about politics all day long. But when we compare the online conversation of the population with that of the politicians, we see clear differences:
Citizens vs. Parties
Do politicians actually engage with voters? That was rarely the case online. During peru mobile phone number list the discussion about the construction plans of the Lage Zijde, there were reactions from many citizens. Political parties did indeed also place their position there, but did not respond to the content of the citizens' reactions. A missed opportunity!
Unwritten election law 4: keep in touch with citizens after the elections
Sad but true: the Twitter activity of the newly elected council members experienced a free fall after the election date. The graph below makes it painfully clear that the Twitter activity of politicians dropped severely once the spoils were secured. Shame!
Twitter activity after 13nov
Campaign Ladder
Based on the experiences of this trial in the municipalities of Alphen aan den Rijn, Boskoop, Rijnwoude and Leeuwarden, we have developed the Campaign Ladder for political party factions. The goal is to find and connect voters online. Also for the long term. Next week, in part two of this article, with the municipal elections of 19 March 2014 in sight, we will discuss the opportunities that social media offer for local politics and how local politicians can successfully join the online conversation.