Blog-Based Debate Draws 65,000 Hits
OSHKOSH, Wis., Nov. 4, 2004—An online forum that allowed four candidates for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly to debate the issues using a Web log drew 65,000 hits by nearly 2,000 unique visitors, the sponsors announced today.
The Oshkosh League of Women Voters, the Oshkosh Public Library and the Oshkosh Community News Network sponsored the forum as an experiment in using technology to encourage civic participation and voter awareness.
"We were intrigued with the blog's novel approach to providing quality information about the candidates' positions on important issues to that segment of voters who are computer savvy," commented Kathleen Propp, president of the Oshkosh area League, whose group has cosponsored candidate forums in the past in partnership with Oshkosh Community Access Television CitiCable 10.
The online debate was operated using free Web log software from Blogger. Given the traffic that the site attracted, the sponsors believe that this method has great potential for focusing attention on local elections in smaller communities, which may not get extensive coverage from traditional print and broadcast news outlets.
John Nichols, library director, said that "the library, whose business is 'connecting people with information,' was very pleased to support this demonstration of how a new technology platform could help people have access to candidate positions and comments. The candidates had a chance to think about their answers before expressing them and the fact that they were in a blog made it easy for people to access them at any time of the day or day of the week."
The blog-based forum began Sept. 13 and was available for voters to consult through Election Day. Over the course of six weeks, a series of 10 questions was posed to the candidates, and they were given three days to post their answers. They could also use a comments feature to rebut statements from the other candidates.
"From a voter’s standpoint and particularly at the local level, the Internet provides several opportunities for improving political discourse," said Miles Maguire, a member of Oshkosh Community News Network, a local nonprofit organization. "In addition, by publishing the candidates’ statement in an accessible and essentially permanent form, we have set a baseline for accountability into the next election cycle."
While the debate was going on, the site recorded 22,874 pageviews in 7,666 sessions. Users spent an average of 7 minutes on the site. Site visitors recorded an average of 150 sessions each day. Total hits were 65,081. Usage surged during the final week before the election, running 20 percent above the average for the entire debate.
All told 1,984 unique visitors, as measured by IP addresses, came to the site during the debate period.
The election was won by Republican incumbent Gregg Underheim, who received 47 percent of the vote. The other three participants in the debate were independent Dan Carpenter, Democrat Gordon Hintz and Wisconsin Green Tony Palmeri.
The debate site can be found at http://www.oshkoshnews.org/candidatesforum . A parallel site was also operated to allow citizens to comment on the debate. It can be found at http://www.oshkoshnews.org/citizensforum/ .
For more information, contact Miles Maguire.
The Oshkosh League of Women Voters, the Oshkosh Public Library and the Oshkosh Community News Network sponsored the forum as an experiment in using technology to encourage civic participation and voter awareness.
"We were intrigued with the blog's novel approach to providing quality information about the candidates' positions on important issues to that segment of voters who are computer savvy," commented Kathleen Propp, president of the Oshkosh area League, whose group has cosponsored candidate forums in the past in partnership with Oshkosh Community Access Television CitiCable 10.
The online debate was operated using free Web log software from Blogger. Given the traffic that the site attracted, the sponsors believe that this method has great potential for focusing attention on local elections in smaller communities, which may not get extensive coverage from traditional print and broadcast news outlets.
John Nichols, library director, said that "the library, whose business is 'connecting people with information,' was very pleased to support this demonstration of how a new technology platform could help people have access to candidate positions and comments. The candidates had a chance to think about their answers before expressing them and the fact that they were in a blog made it easy for people to access them at any time of the day or day of the week."
The blog-based forum began Sept. 13 and was available for voters to consult through Election Day. Over the course of six weeks, a series of 10 questions was posed to the candidates, and they were given three days to post their answers. They could also use a comments feature to rebut statements from the other candidates.
"From a voter’s standpoint and particularly at the local level, the Internet provides several opportunities for improving political discourse," said Miles Maguire, a member of Oshkosh Community News Network, a local nonprofit organization. "In addition, by publishing the candidates’ statement in an accessible and essentially permanent form, we have set a baseline for accountability into the next election cycle."
While the debate was going on, the site recorded 22,874 pageviews in 7,666 sessions. Users spent an average of 7 minutes on the site. Site visitors recorded an average of 150 sessions each day. Total hits were 65,081. Usage surged during the final week before the election, running 20 percent above the average for the entire debate.
All told 1,984 unique visitors, as measured by IP addresses, came to the site during the debate period.
The election was won by Republican incumbent Gregg Underheim, who received 47 percent of the vote. The other three participants in the debate were independent Dan Carpenter, Democrat Gordon Hintz and Wisconsin Green Tony Palmeri.
The debate site can be found at http://www.oshkoshnews.org/candidatesforum . A parallel site was also operated to allow citizens to comment on the debate. It can be found at http://www.oshkoshnews.org/citizensforum/ .
For more information, contact Miles Maguire.
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