Einar Thorsen

Professor of Journalism and Communication at Bournemouth University

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BBC – dot.Rory: So was it an internet election?

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    Rory Cellan-Jones:

    "Just about every debate I attended on this issue before the campaign ended with everyone agreeing that television, and the debates in particular, would be decisive.

    But the internet, from social media to Google to good old-fashioned news websites, did play a significant part in the way many people experienced this election – and that was very different from what happened in 2005.

    The web was successful in getting more people to engage with the campaign, it played a role in the way parties sought to persuade voters into their camp and to organise that process. It was also a source of news – although this was one area where its effect was smaller than expected."

    External link

    Del.ici.us tags: rorycellanjones electino2010 internet campaign onlinenews

Social media and the leadership debates – BBC News

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    Social media and the leadership debates – BBC News

    Rory Cellan-Jones:

    "All of this activity on social networks, on blogs and on the mainstream media will be analysed by practitioners of a new discipline called sentiment analysis.

    They believe that by feeding vast amounts of data into computers they can analyse the emotions of those people watching and commenting on an event, and say something useful about public opinion.

    The technology is already employed to help financial traders make decisions about the impact of sentiment on the markets.

    The three television debates will be a useful testing ground for the claims of this new science."

    (Link has great overview of Twitter and Facebook activity during campaign.)

    Del.ici.us tags: eleciton2010 socialmedia socialnetworking twitter facebook sentiment rorycellanjones

#debill v #ge2010 – BBC: dot.Rory

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    #debill v #ge2010 – BBC: dot.Rory

    "In 24 hours, the hashtag #debill appeared 14,400 times on Twitter, as compared to 1,470 tweets using the election hashtag #ge2010. So, does that mean the mainstream media, with its concentration on campaign news, is ignoring the really big story? Or is this a particularly well-focussed campaign by a relatively small group of activists?"

    Del.ici.us tags: bbc debill ge2010 twitter campaign news hashtag rorycellanjones