Window Dressing 2.0: Constituency-Level Web Campaigns in the 2010 UK General Election
Abstract
This article explores the use of Web 2.0 tools in constituency-level campaigns in the UK 2010 general election. Specifically it examines whether Web 2.0 use was undertaken with a goal of promoting interaction with voters or was simply a ‘window-dressing’ exercise. It does so using data from a nationwide survey of election agents, content analysis of a subset of campaign websites, and information collected through interviews with candidates. The results show that while campaigns are keen to adopt Web 2.0 technology, they have largely eschewed the interactive potential of Web 2.0, replicating previous UK web campaigns that have demonstrated limited interactivity.
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Biographies
Benjamin Lee has recently completed a PhD at the Institute for Social Change, University of Manchester. His thesis focused on the role of the web in constituency-level campaigns at the 2010 UK general election. He is currently a Research Associate in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester and is working on a project that deals with the use of the web by populist parties and movements in the UK. Benjamin Lee, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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Article first published online: August 27, 2013
Issue published: February 2014
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