Parties, Candidates and Citizens On-Line - Åbo Akademi

of the web. Gibson et al. (2003b, 102) noted that smaller parties appear to primarily use
the medium for raising awareness and organization building and tend to have a quite
positive view of the medium as compared to traditional media (cf. Margolis et al. 2003,
58). The ‘net gain’ might be more unclear for major parties, (cf. Sadow & James 1999, 5)
and the verdict on the web less enthusiastic.
Party supporters and voters
The composition of the electorate is one of the main bases of a party’s strategic planning
(Sjöblom 1968, 208). Parties usually divide voters according to two dimensions; whether
the voter is positive, uncertain or negative towards the party and whether the voter is
certain or uncertain to vote (Sjöblom 1968, 236; cf. Maarek 1995). Over time, the group
of uncertain voters, both in terms of party preferences and voting propensity, has
widened at the expense of the reliable voters. Parties now seek votes from many different
social segments and not solely from one ‘reliable’ segment (Kirchheimer 1966; Swanson
& Mancini 1996). Maarek (1995, 39) has identified two types of party communication
depending on the intended audience; maintenance and conquest communications. A party
seeks to maintain its supporters, both loyal and uncertain, and to gain new voters from
the uncertain voter segments and the uncertain voters of other parties (cf. Rohrschneider
2002). Sjöblom (1968, 208) calls these voter groups the “intended influence objects”
towards whom parties focus their communication.
Pertaining to party internet strategies and activity, the composition of a party’s
supporters and potential voters can also be perceived as influencing if and how a party
campaigns on-line (cf. Herrnson & Stokes 2003; Ward et al. 2005, 11). The concept of the
‘digital divide’ has been used to describe the uneven access to and usage of the internet by
citizens (Norris 2001b). The public’s internet usage tends to follow certain demographical
patterns; white, young, highly educated, white-collar males use the internet at a higher rate
than other citizens (Norris 2001b; 2002). A party whose “intended influence objects” do
not belong to these ‘wired’ segments of the public, for instance a pensioners’ party (cf.
Gibson et al. 2003b, 102), has few incentives for moving on-line in catching uncertain
voters. It seems likely that such a party puts little planning and effort into a party website
(Nixon et al. 2003, 241). Other parties, such as the Greens (Ward et al. 2005, 6), have
their target audience amongst those social groups who use the internet most frequently
and have strong incentives for making the most of their website. Of course, it is also
necessary to realize that party websites may be used for maintenance communication as
well; one of the potentially important functions of a party website would therefore also be
to strengthen the internal organization (Gibson et al. 2003b, 87; Römmele 2003, 9). A
party lacking a primary on-line audience in terms of potential voters may still put planning
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