Controlling the Message in Cyberspace

Part 3 of 5 in the series "Blogs, Social Networks and the Pitfalls of E-Politics".

In 2000, Professor Christine Williams and her research team began analyzing the content of U.S. House and Senate campaign websites, a research project that has continued through the campaign cycles of 2004 and 2006. She is now analyzing Election 2008.

During the 2006 midterm elections, as blogs and social networks began to emerge as factors in online politics, Professor Williams investigated the impact of Facebook support on a candidates final vote shares. Her team found that Facebook support did indeed have a significant effect on election results, particularly in the case of open-seat candidates. These results were reported during the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. In the video below, Professor Williams discusses her Facebook study as well as her observations on the evolution of online campaigns.

Christine B. Williams is a Professor of International Studies and Government at Bentley University. She studies political communication with an emphasis on new and emerging technologies. Recently her research has focused on Internet-hosted technologies including campaign websites and social networks.

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