”Extended infomercials” or ”Politics 2.0”? A study of Swedish political party Web sites before, during and after the 2010 election
2011, (2011)Abstract
Although many of the initial hopes regarding the Internet's effect on political engagement and participation has largely gone unfulfilled, it is generally held that the Internet still plays substantial role in political campaigns. Several studies have focused on how the Internet is employed for such purposes during an actual election campaign, but rather few studies have adopted a broader temporal scope, examining Web sites of political parties before, during and after an election. This paper fills this research gap by presenting a longitudinal analysis of the Web sites of Swedish political parties during the election year of 2010. Starting in January of 2010, these Web pages were downloaded on a monthly basis, a practice continued until the end of the year. By studying the Web sites of political parties before, during and after an election campaign, this project provides unique insights into Web campaigning rationale.