Comments on: Can the Internet Rig Elections?

By: steve white

steve white — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:14:41 +0000

didn’t that thai thaskin guy having the mobile network to play with really help him to win, sending out message free to millions of young voters, I remember hearing it reported as some sort demostration of technology to progressing democracy when it was really just some rich guy abusing his business power to get elected.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:02:27 +0000

Yes Braz but the amount of people that are political and thus likely to be able to canvas is tiny compared to the general population even if they have 50 non-mutual friends That is still feck all people.

By: braz

braz — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:13:59 +0000

Simon, I think Damien is suggesting that if you can have some many friends in your bebo or facebook account that it doesn’t have to be face to face anymore. Electronically canvassing a friend for support is becoming more acceptable which means that the scope could actually be increasing. There is a generational gap that exists but by the next election there will be candidates young enough for this style of approach to work, perhaps we’ll even see it in the forthcoming locals.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:44:42 +0000

Cian my point is that information matters little to people in Irish elections. It is done on reputation and who people meet face to face. Reputation is not made from the papers but through word of mouth. Most people are not political in this country or members of parties. Which is shrinking so the convincing friends has very limited scope.

By: braz

braz — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:04:58 +0000

To the first module of the system check out the research area of social network analysis, every major telecom is doing it to their data. So are half the social informatics researchers in the states who're aiming to figure cell structure of terrorist cells. To the second module of the system, checkout Excaliber I posted something on it around 2004 which Labour has been using in the UK since around 1995. A more scholarly type person may be interested in ``Think global, talk local: Getting the party political message across in the age of the Internet'' or ``Election Campaigning Online- German Party Websites in the 2002 National Elections'' or ``Voters in a Changing Media Environment- A Data-Based Retrospective on Consequences of Media Change in Germany''. For bloggers there is a nice article on the German elections, ``Weblog Campaigning in the German Bundestag Election 2005''. These ideas aren't new I know that FF and FG have been kicking them around for several years but of course if I said any more I'd have to kill you or charge you enough of a fee that it'd probably have the same effect.

By: Cian

Cian — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:44:02 +0000

fair point Niall, tho its damiens phrasing not mine. I would suspect that he means it in the sense of deploying ict in ways that might seem unfair or at least overly controlling of ‘open’ democratic processes? Not sure tho-head over and ask him.

Aye Simon your right in a sense but it seems that Damien is arguing that technology can win you elections in a way irish politics does run (targetting people, convincing friends, manipulating media and ‘negative’ information) rather than just the ol blogging.

By: Niall

Niall — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:29:00 +0000

I don’t really see how anything mentioned constitutes rigging.

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:05:45 +0000

Pie in the sky. Irish politics does not run on issues like that.