Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Report 4 Benn?

As part of Hilary Benn's (deputy Labour leadership candidate) web presence he has a 'Webwatch' section. In arguing "For the first time ever, the Internet is going to have a significant influence on a major internal Labour Party election" and so asks site visitors: "If you're prepared to help be my eyes and ears on the web, please use the form below to direct me to sites and articles that are relevant to this campaign". Why?

Could it be:
a) a covert but novel way to collect the contact details of visitors;
b) to gain an overview of Benn-related web activity to rebut anything negative;
c) to gain an overview of Benn-related web activity to interact with those engaged with his campaign;
d) to find out what sites / issues are of interest to visitors to his site;
e) through interaction, to build a community of interest around himself.

There are perhaps other reasons but it could either be a way to begin a dialogue with an already engaged online community. or just a way to gain information; if the former there is potential for his campaign to move towards a more interactive dimension. Benn gives no clues as to the purpose, maybe he hasnt decided himself yet.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think he wants to engage but not sure how this does it or means much really. I like his videos he seems a really nice guy