Abstract
The initial phases of communication projects are all too frequently characterized by an overemphasis on the tools to be used rather than on the goals to be achieved. The choice of tools must be determined by the objectives identified, not the other way around. Online communication is a limitless field where new possibilities seem to crop up and catch on almost daily. There is an ever-present risk of wasting energy on countless details rather than focusing on what is really important. While every campaign is different and unique, there are a few key objectives that apply to any political endeavor. The first is spreading the campaign’s political message: presenting ideas, making proposals, managing communication crises, and addressing the opponent. The second involves stimulating and organizing participation, online as well as offline. This chapter gives special attention to a consideration of this activity in the current context, which is characterized by a marked decrease in political participation. Finally, the chapter outlines the role and the recommended practices for political fundraising.
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Notes
- 1.
In September 2007 and April 2008, Grillo called his online following into city squares for protests known as “Vaffanculo Day” or “V-Day,” named for an Italian expletive meaning “Fuck you.” The two V-Days drew hundreds of thousands of protestors in Italy’s largest cities, with the first calling for the expulsion of convicted criminals from Parliament and the second decrying Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s control over the news media. Grillo transformed these protests into a political movement he called Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5S) or the Five-Star Movement, which was organized entirely online. In less than three years, the financial crisis and the European debt crisis have made his movement, made up of individual citizens entering politics under Grillo’s banner, the second-largest political force in Italy.
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Giansante, G. (2015). Building an Online Communication Strategy. In: Online Political Communication. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17617-8_3
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