1. Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Labour and Socialist Party)
There are two characteristics notes that define the Socialist campaign. On the one side, the
Socialist Party affronted the elections from the Government: this was a key element in their
overall strategy, and hence in the Internet as well. On the other side, due to the dimension of the
Party and its position as the most-voted in the previous elections, it centered its campaign on the
person of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of the Government and head of the Socialists.
As the name Rodríguez is much expanded, he is best known as Zapatero.
Therefore, the campaign was based on two main sites. The first one of them is
lamiradapositiva.es, home of the Web's campaign. In this site, named after the campaign's slogan
(The positive view), was built according to what we could call the key characteristics of web 2.0:
fresh and neat design, social participation, downloads, personalization of the electoral program -
through questions the program was narrowed down to the parts that were central for the user-,
close relationship with the candidate -with the possibility to make questions to the candidate-, and
fun widgets, such as the robot iZ. iZ was actually a contact to add in MSN Live Messenger and that
answered to questions related to the electoral program. This site was the reference for the
campaign, and therefore it was not needed to drastically change the party's web page, psoe.es.
This site had a structure that gave preference to information and segmentation: approximately 30
blogs were linked and the content of news depended on the province selected. Additionally,
typical RSS feeds were available.
The second site is conzdezapatero.co m, which literally means with z of Zapatero, was a minisite
published briefly before the campaign that stressed the pronunciation characteristic made by the
candidate permanently when saying words with a final “d” (he pronounces it as a final “z”). This
feature, present in a large part of the country's population, was transformed into the best example
of the personality of the candidate: a close to people person, no different from his voters. With
this pronunciation, several of the party's proposals were presented: ProsperidaZ (Prosperity),
CompetitividaZ (Competitiveness), AccesibilidaZ (Accessibility), Empleo de CalidaZ (Quality Job
Creation), EstabilidaZ (Stability), Alta VelocidaZ (High-Speed Railway in the whole country),
Empleo de CalidaZ (this was more than a repetition mistake, since it gave the impression of not
giving enough importance to the contents), SensibilidaZ (Sensibility), ModernidaZ (Modernity),
IgualdaZ (Equal Opportunities) y CapacidaZ Adquisitiva (Purchasing Power). All these words
were not backed up by facts or specific proposals, just one single sentence. The previous elections'
logo, ZP (Zapatero President), was turned into a much more graphic Z.
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2. Partido Popular (Popular Party)
The Popular Party had to fight against the idea voters had of a cold, distant group. Its leader,
Mariano Rajoy, was not well considered in polls, partially due to his reputation as a too serious
man. Due to all this, two elements were central in the campaign: to approach the candidate to
voters and to convince them the Party is open to new times. The net expression of this second
characteristic is the inclusion of social networks and 2.0 widgets.
As Socialists did, Populars focused the campaign on the person of Mariano Rajoy:
marianorajoy.es redirected to pp.es, and the Party's site suffered a total change of look and
structure: much more free-and-easy, user-friendly and neat. The best example of the change was
the logo update, to a much more “2.0” design -with shades, reflections and a button-like design-,
incorporated later to the offline campaign as well. RajoyTV, an Internet TV channel based on a
YouTube account, was one of the main innovations, as was the flash-based menu. Yet perhaps the
best feature was the direct links to social networks, mainly YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Tuenti
(a social network very similar to Facebook with a decisive presence among young people). On the
negative side, the web was not the head of an organized local and regional network, and therefore
there is no coordination of information, resulting in a chaos for the users.
On the other side, the best feature of New Technologies is the minisite Populars built specifically
for the campaign, tupropuestaen30segundos.co m (Your Suggestion in 30 seconds). It consisted in
a phone call in which Rajoy asked the phone owner to help him by suggesting important measures
in a 30 seconds video, and in return the winners would become the party’s TV spots. Although
some of the calls were misused as jokes, the idea was a tremendous success: soon it spread through
the web and received 100.000 calls in just three days, after what the phone call became an email,
due to the high costs. Yet it seemed that the Popular Party did not know how to take profit out
of the media repercussion of the site: the phone numbers or email addresses were not saved into a
databank for latter contact, and the videos that were sent never became TV spots.
It is necessary to mention the change made by the Party’s youth, Nuevas Generaciones (New
Generations), both in their message and in the way of transmitting it. In February 2008,
ganamoslosjovenes.com (young people win) became the name of their site: a 2.0 logo, similar in
its traits to the party’s new one, was adopted, and a blog was updated with the news of the
campaign, a clear sign of interest in the Internet. The links to social networks, such as YouTube,
Facebook, Flickr or Tuenti, held an important place in the site, just as downloads of desktop
backgrounds and logos. All candidates who belong to New Generations were introduced, and
interestingly two grassroots’ institutions, very critic with the Socialist Government, were linked:
Yorompo and Adioz. Additionally, New Generations focused their own strategy on low-cost videos
uploaded to YouTube and spread all over the Web.
Izquierda Unida (United Left)
Izquierda Unida faced a difficult campaign, partially due to the electoral system –although it is
the third most voted party, it has scarce presence in the Congress- and to the evolution of voters’
preferences: once an important party, the Communists had slowly reduced their share in the
electorate. This ‘necessity’ of appearing in the media resulted in some brilliant ideas, such as the
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3. choosing of a party theme in MySpace or the presence in Second Life, and some important
errors, due to the lack of a real online strategy.
The Party’s site, for instance, had not seen any change in its structure or in the way information
was provided to the user. The abundance of news and content made it impossible to emphasize the
important parts, and the menu is confusing: surprisingly, the web was re-structured during the
campaign. The already mentioned theme chosen in MySpace was incorporated to the site, but not
much more was done.
Iquierda Unida’s leader, Gaspar Llamazares, bought the dominion gasparllamazares.net, which is
already shut down, and incorporated in it some good and interesting features, such as a blog
personally updated by him and pictures of the candidate both in public and private occasions. The
blog was one of the best tools to spread through the web the biography of the candidate and the
interviews he made in TV, through links to YouTube videos. On another level, this site is where
Gaspi was born: a flash-animated character who explained some of the central aspects of the
program. He also burnt a portrait of the King and Queen, which brought a big negative feedback in
media: yet it served to strengthen the ties with its voters, most of them republican: additionally,
the color scheme chosen for the site clearly evokes the republican flag (red, yellow and violet).
Unión para el Progreso y la Democracia (Union for Progress and Democracy)
This party has no more than a year and it has already been named as a political miracle: the
majority of its members are socialists, discontent with the PSOE’s territorial policies. Their
leader, Rosa Díez, is a very important political figure, due to her opposition in the Basque
Country to the terrorist group ETA. Within a year, UPyD has managed to be known all around
the country for a close, warm and transparent group, concerned by the real problems and the
Unity of the country. That is why the slogan for the campaign was Lo que nos une, (What unites
us), and loquenosune.com was bought and redirected to the institutional site upyd.es.
Because of this personal relationship the party wanted to hold with the voters, the site was
focused on blogs, leaving the party’s information for later. These blogs were updated periodically
by the party members, who were in their majority already well known in the civil society.
Additionally, the site included online questionnaires to know better the voter, and a newsletter
subscription, something not seen before in any other party. Downloads were very easy to find,
and some widgets were included.
The electoral system made it difficult for the party to get many seats in the Congress, so it
focused its campaign on its leader, Rosa Díez, the first woman to get to the head of the list in a
national party. That is why the site rosadiez.es had a main goal: to make people know the person
behind the candidate, as a normal woman living in a normal world. Abundant biographic
references, many pictures of Díez taking walks with her dogs or with her friends, etc.: everything
led to see the candidate as close person rather than a distant leader.
Perhaps one of the most interesting sites UPyD built was yourosa.org, a replica of YouTube,
where there was no need to register, which eased the system of uploading, commenting, and
voting videos. This site was scarcely known, since the majority of video watchers are led to
YouTube, but was a powerful tool inside the own party and its sympathizers.
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5. Probably the use of social networks has been one of the revolutions of the electoral campaign. In
the last four years, since the last elections, the Internet has evolved into a place where personal
relations occur. These relations are mostly reunited under a same structure, a social network: the
most important ones have millions of users from all over the world, connected to each other by
bonds so different from traditional connections that it makes the Internet a necessary channel for
politicians to use and transmit their message.
All strategies concerning social networks should tend to create a bilateral relation between the
candidate and the voter, in order to connect personally with each person: absolute democracy is in
this way made possible, since everybody has the chance to be heard. For this reason, the use of
these networks made by politicians would imply the success or failure of each party’s online
strategy.
Facebook
Facebook is the most and best used social network by all parties: multiple possibilities of
connecting with other people and the varied public present in it make it the most useful for
transmitting the message. All parties are present in it, yet each has used it in a different way.
Mariano Rajoy is possibly the leader who has used more this network. In this sense, his profile
includes 4.777 friends, more than 1.572 Wallposts, and gathers both Flickr pictures and YouTube
videos. It is interesting to observe for example the nearness of the principal photo, in which he
poses with his wife, with informal clothes: it transmits the Internet’s feeling of warmness that
sometimes people have missed of him. A very interesting detail is Mariano Rajoy's personal
congratulations to all his friends on their birthday. Nevertheless, all the good sensations vanish
when the beginning of the account is observed: the Popular leader began his session on Facebook
on February 6 th 2008, that is, only one month before the elections, and the use of the profile’s
microblog is unnatural. In addition, diverse groups in support of Rajoy exist, with more than 997
members all added up: they are informal groups created by his followers, without official links to
the candidate’s profile, who does not even belong to them and without any type of coordination
between the groups, therefore loosing power in respect of the group of Zapatero 2008.
On the contrary José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero does not own a personal profile in this network:
there might exist several reasons that could justify this situation. When Mariano Rajoy created
his profile, a great polemic was generated by the creation of a false profile of the Socialist leader,
who was forced to deny its veracity. After this moment it probably was not considered opportune
to create a new profile, since users’ confidence had been broken. Yet this did not mean the
nonexistence of a Socialist campaign in Facebook. All across it, groups of support to the Socialist
candidate extend the networks. Zapatero 2008 is the most numerous, it relies on 2.294 members
that they have uploaded different pictures, videos and more than 466 wallposts. Not to have a
candidate’s profile to answer the wallposts and take part in the discussions may imply a loss of
nearness, but certainly not of dynamism: the users are more inclined to express their opinions
freely, and it is update much faster. The group exists since November 11th 2007, and it has already
31 Forums of discussion. There are several other groups that have approximately 1.500 members
all added up, unconnected to each other, but curiously members of Zapatero 2008 are members as
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6. well of other groups of support, which means higher numbers in group membership but less people
connected between each other.
Rosa Díez has made of her Facebook profile, created on March 1 st 2008, an element that grew
exponentially since its beginning and especially after the campaign. With more than 555 friends
and 103 Wallposts, Rosa Díez has uploaded an interview made by journalist Ernesto Sáenz de
Buruaga for the channel Telemadrid. In addition, she has uploaded personal pictures, not so much
of the campaign, and has completed the areas of interests, books, music and favorite movies,
which implies a major sensation of nearness. In addition, as a very interesting element – since it
means a big implication-, she uses very well the microblog, informing the users of her present
activity, and therefore allowing an almost instantaneous follow-up of the candidate.
Finally, Gaspar Llamazares has a page in it links his blog and web pages, and gathers his Flickr and
YouTube accounts. Slightly more active is the group Gaspar Llamazares, which brings together
123 members, 37 Wallposts, 45 pictures and 5 videos. Nonetheless, it can be concluded that
Izquierda Unida has not centered much of its attention on this network.
Tuenti
Tuenti is a Spanish network, which assures a 100 % target public; though it does not limit the
users’ age and possibly this it is one of its limitations in what refers to political communication.
Focused principal and almost exclusively to youth, it is a purely social tool, which nevertheless
allows to upload videos, pictures, events, and microblogging. The wall is also very important, to
show the support the candidate has. The network allows as well to see the number of friends that
each member has, and includes a very powerful weapon, which is a blog. This one is possibly its
best tool, since there is no need for an outside blog.
In this network, without any doubts, Mariano Rajoy is the clear winner. With more than 1.000
friends, Mariano Rajoy has 55.000 commentaries in his Wall, a number for sure stunning. In
addition, the candidate uses the blog, and the originality of his account in Tuenti is his use as a tool
to bring the person of the candidate closer to people and not so much as an institutional presence.
The problem is that the update is done especially during the campaign, leaving a bit of side the
maintenance after March 9 th . Anyhow, one of the most interesting elements is his presence in the
network since relatively soon, that is to say, on December 14 th 2007, undoubtedly having in mind
the electoral campaign, but with sufficient anticipation to not seem too opportunist. On the other
side, there is more than 100 profiles of New Generations, of the whole Peninsula, which have in
turn friends, pictures and videos: this assures a very important presence of Populars in this
network.
Precisely one of the most surprising things in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's profile is his date of
registering: three days after the elections. Nevertheless, there existed already during the campaign
around 50 profiles of the Socialist Youths, that less intensely but in the same way as the New
Generations, gathered sympathizers in a common network in Tuenti.
The candidate of Izquierda Unida, Gaspar Llamazares, joined Tuenti on January 26 th 2008, and
therefore he has not obtained all the support in this network he could have. With 267 friends, and
210 wall posts he is far behind Mariano Rajoy. Nevertheless, the most interesting element is the
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7. tagging made by other members of the candidate in provocative pictures: tagging is very much the
use in networks, yet provocation has never been the best tool to gather support. In addition,
Izquierda Unida owns six more profiles in this network, which does not imply a presence so
important as both principal parties have.
Rosa Díez entered Tuenti on January 5 th 2008, and since then she has maintained a good activity
in the network. It is interesting, as in all other networks where she has created a profile, that Rosa
Díez completes the personal fills, as Interests, Favorite Books, Music, etc. She only has one wall
post, 105 friends and 95 pictures, but Rosa Díez updates periodically her profile, giving the
sensation of wanting to encourage the interaction with voters more than spreading her message
unilaterally. It is interesting to know that there exist six more profiles, of which only UPyD
Amigos and Juventud por el cambio (Youth for the change) are previous to the elections, and
they directly support Rosa Díez without being institutional groups.
YouTube
YouTube grants a double potential for political parties. The first one is the possibility of using it
as route of transmitting to the audio-visual mass media TV spots that, due to the limitations that
the Spanish law establishes to emit political spots in TV, might never be emitted in campaign and
that, spread around the web, reach major diffusion. The second one, less used, is the possibility to
generate communities and to communicate in a direct way with citizens. With this purpose, and
imitating of USA primary campaigns, YouTube has been used as platform for the sending of
questions to candidates, that the different TV channels, as TVE or Antena 3, were formulating
directly to candidates during televised live interviews. The massive success of this initiative has
provoked that the people interact increasingly.
That is why all parties have used it in a similar way, as a diffusion channel of their activities and
press conferences, TV spots and announcements. The Populars have obtained many more visits
in their channel than all other parties, exactly 204.152, whereas the Socialists, second most
visited, has only 153.758. As for subscribers, both major parties have approximately the same
ones, around the 1.700, whereas Izquierda Unida and UPyD has almost 450. For what refers to
the number of videos, both the Populars and the PSOE have the same approximate number, with
slight advantage over the Populars -264 opposite to 217-. It is surprising the high number of
UPyD's videos, 119, in relation to 23 IU's videos, which implies a quick adjustment of Rosa Díez's
party to YouTube: whereas the three national parties registered in the second quarter of 2006,
UPyD entered in September, 2007, that is to say, one year later.
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