Blogging as a Campaign Tool: An Analysis of the Frames and Design Used on Barack Obama's Official Blog

Abstract

Present-day political campaigns have changed significantly from a generation ago. Communication is drive by technology. Today's target audience has 24-7 access to information and high-tech devices. The design of the traditional political campaign no longer fits the audience it is meant to reach. Political candidates must narrowcast their content to reach constituents. To accomplish this, they must understand how to effectively communicate their message through evolving technologies. This study examined the communication patterns in Obama's blog posts during 2008 general election period and during the first 100 days in office. Each post was coded according to type-of-post, time frame, space frame, tone frame, topic frame and visual element. The scores for each category also were combined to examine the framing patterns among: time and tone, space and tone, topic and tone, visual element and tone, space and topic, and tone and type-of-post. More than 10 years has passed since the first political blog appeared as a campaign tool. Decades of communication research over the effects of television, radio and print media have been published. Political teams use this research in their campaigns to send the most effective message from their candidate. Although research has defined what a blog is, who reads it and how it is used, there are not many studies that have examined the potential effects. Blog communication has untapped potential to impact future campaigns. However, before this audience can be strategically tapped, the effects of blogging must be understood. Before the effects can be measured, parameters need to be defined. The purpose of this study is to define elements that will be applicable to future studies in the area of communication research. By understanding how to effectively frame blog content, bloggers and politicians can maximize the impact of their message.