Handshakes and meet and greets risk being replaced by blog posts and friend requests as candidates in Madison's 2007 races embrace the Internet-centric culture of their voters.
While candidates maintain traditional door-to-door campaigning is still effective, they said they cannot ignore the increased traffic at social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace.
""It would be imprudent if I did not utilize a source that I know so many students use so frequently,"" said Lauren Woods, a candidate for the District 8 Alder and UW-Madison senior.
Woods said the Internet is going to play a role in all campaigns because it is a tool everyone, especially students, has access to.
Her opponent, UW-Madison sophomore Eli Judge, has also embraced Internet culture. He announced his early campaign via a Facebook group and still maintains nearly 500 members.
""So far it has not been a crucial part of our campaign,"" Judge said. ""Thus far it's been more of a glamour thing.""
Even beyond the Facebook-obsessed campus realm, candidates have picked up on modern ways to digitally communicate with voters.
Candidates in the mayoral race—a race that is traditionally door-to-door—see the Internet as a trendy, new way to increase visibility.
Mayoral candidate Peter MuAoz said the Internet is a sensible campaign strategy because the options are endless.
""We are using MySpace and dot com pages because we know a lot of the young people are engaging in dialogue in that context,"" MuAoz said.
Megan McGrorty, campaign manager for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said that in the past, most campaigning was done via phone. She said now many people rely on cell phones instead of landlines, so online communication allows the candidate's message to effectively reach the right people.
""The blog page is a way to get feedback,"" she said. ""This is a more informal way to have a conversation; this is a way that Dave can put something out there and voters can ask questions,"" McGrorty said.
Ald. Austin King, District 8, said the campaign process has greatly changed since he ran four years ago. According to King, ""the Facebook thing is huge"" and blogs are a great way to mobilize young voters.
""Ten years ago everything was done via mail and phone. Now it can be a lot more interactive,"" King said.
Still, a big concern about online campaigning is the possibility of making the campaign less personal. Nearly all the candidates that plan to be on the April 2007 ballot agreed that online campaigning should not be substituted for door-to-door campaigns.
""We would never abandon traditional grassroots campaign,"" McGrorty said. ""We are still out every weekend knocking on doors and calling people every night.""
King noted that a negative aspect of online campaigning is that it gives people a chance to bash others out in the open. He said the blogs and websites such as YouTube can misrepresent the media in a much worse way than radio or TV ever did.
He pointed to ""anonymous bloggers who take really personal slams against people and they're too cowardly to use their real names in doing it.""
Despite students being more technologically savvy than in years past, Woods said she still plans on reaching potential constituents in person.
""I don't think the Internet is anything that should be used in substitution for door-to-door,"" Woods said.
