No online charm for 2010 wannabees ala Obama

by Ronald Jabal

Barack Obama did not only make history when he became the first black US president but he made huge leaps in how political campaigning can and should be done through his excellent understanding of the power of new media.

He used social networking cybersites to move people in the real world – community organizing, online – and the youth is its prime mover! He capitalized on the potency of the Internet and has reaped the reward – the Oval Office.

Just look at this stats:

The social media network developed by the Barack Obama campaign created more than 3,500,000 friends for Barack Obama. YouTube, the largest online video streaming site, shows more than 134,000 subscriptions and FaceBook shows more than 3,000,000 supporters.

With presidential elections in the Philippines not too far from now, can the current crop of presidential wannabees replicate the Barack online charm?

Maybe not.

What’s preventing the wannabees from harnessing the potential of the Internet is the STILL small number of internet penetration in the country.

While it is steadily growing across the country by leaps and bounds, the country has a measly 18% Internet usage rate. Most Internet users still access through cybercafés and use pre-paid dial-ups. The figure is much lower for mobile internet users as it only hovers around 3%.

Most Pinoy use Internet to chat, play games, send emails, personal and academic researches, and download music – none towards anything political . This clearly shows, unlike in the US, Pinoy Internet users are “socializers” – using the web for social activities and entertainment.

As a consequence, new media in the Philippines has yet to be considered part of the “mainstream” that would merit the attention and space in political campaigns. The personal websites of the current crop of presidential wannabees were developed to simply announce their online existence – that they too have a presence in the cyberspace just like everybody else.

But using the website as a major tool, just like a TV, radio or print ad, to build the image and push the candidacy of a wannabee? Maybe not.

I don’t see Internet becoming a major campaign tool to hook in the youth by 2010. This, notwithstanding the framing of the wannabee as a “tech”savvy”.

Not in this election. Maybe in the future.

Just maybe.