Conservative.ca Campaign Weblog Review

The Conservatives first experimented with a campaign weblog during the 2004 federal election. A quick glance back at the 2004 weblog shows that it was considerably under-utilized - with only one short posting per day of the campaign and content that was bland and uninformative. This time around however, the Conservatives seem to have learned a few lessons and have expanded the weblog role in their communication strategy. Looking at the weblog you can see that while there is still only one posting per day of the campaign, they have improved the overall quality of the actual postings. The content of the postings relate to those policies and issues that have arisen through the campaign. The author of the weblog is anonymous and the copy is often accompanied with photos from the campaign trail.

There are however a number of problems plaguing the weblog. The first problem is the lack of linkage between the numerous topics discussed on the weblog and the various other sections of the campaign websites. The author of the blog often discusses specific policies or issues, and yet s/he never bothers to provide the weblog reader with a link to more information.

The second major problem with the weblog is the fact that there isn’t an archive for the daily postings. If the visitor is interested in reading what was posted for a certain day of the campaign the readers is forced to manually scroll through a weeks worth of postings to find the correct date. In an eight week campaign this means scrolling through a considerable amount of postings. A lack of archives is also a problem if the reader is looking for information on a particular subject - without knowing what day an issue or policy was mentioned, most readers would not bother scrolling through all these postings.

The third problem is the author of the weblog is anonymous. Who exactly is the person behind the weblog? Without knowing who the person writing the postings is, the reader will undoubtedly feel disconnected from the author of the weblog.

Here is what I would recommend:

1. Design a weblog that conforms to the standard weblog format. Similar to the Liberal blog, the Conservatives seem to have chosen to ignore the many different weblog software packages that are available, and have built a weblog that is difficult to use. The fact that this weblog has no archives, permalinks, trackbacks, comments, blogroll, etc, means that it fails to provide the format and features visitors have come to expect from weblogs.
2. Link the discussions in the weblog to internal and external sources. There are already numerous policies and issues that have been discussed (GST tax reform, Child Care, etc) directly on the weblog, here is a perfect opportunity to link to positive media reports, weblogs and supporting policy documents. By not providing links to external documents, readers are unfortunately not given all the information they might be seeking. Trapping users on a website by not providing external links out of the fear they will never return is a poor policy and assumes users are easily manipulated and cannot be trusted. Also, by not linking to internal policy documents, readers cannot follow up for more information on the issues discussed. If you’re going to discuss a policy like child-care, provide a link to section of the site that states this policy clearly.
3. Invest more time and resources into the weblog. One posting a day, no matter how long that post may be, just isn’t enough considering the potential importance of the weblog. Successful weblogs often have a loyal readership that return more than once a day to check to see if anything new has been posted. Repeat users are often drawn to weblogs because their authors are not hindered by a complex publication cycle found in the conventional media outlets. This means the Conservative party could have a captive audience repeatedly returning to their website to check out the latest developments in the campaign.

The Conservatives have effectively missed the boat with their blog. They seem to understand the importance of having one, but underestimate the true power and potential of the weblog on their communication strategy.

Liberal.ca BlackBerry Blog Review

The Blackberry Blog is written by Scott Feschuk, Paul Martin’s chief speechwriter. Some of you might have read Scott’s work before, previous to his employment at the PMO, Scott was a writer for the National Post. According to the intro, Scott will be “filing reports from the road using his Blackberry.” Following along, you can see that Scott has made a number of posting for each day of the campaign. Each day of the campaign is given a ambiguous title, while each posting is accompanied with a timestamp.

Unfortunately for the visitors to this weblog, the content of the postings are generally flippant and devoid of any real useful information. While Scott has done an excellent job at injecting personality into his postings, too much personality without any substance means visitors leave the weblog with little more than inconsequential gossip from the campaign trail.

Another major problem is the way in which the postings are organized on the weblog. They have chosen to only place a title for each day of the campaign and then each individual posting has only a timestamp to differentiate it from another posting. This is makes it very difficult to refer to a particular post on the weblog via another weblog and is an unconventional way of assigning post titles. Interlinking between weblogs is a fundamental aspect of weblogging, and the primary reason most weblogs employ a feature called, permalinks. Permalinks allow other webloggers to link to a particular weblog post.

The third, and possibly the largest problem with this weblog is that it fails to encourage or facilitate any positive action by the individual visitor towards the campaign. No where on the weblog does Scott encourage supporters to contribute, volunteer, etc for the campaign. Basically, this weblog is Scott talking about his personal experience on the campaign trail and provides the campaign with very little, if any, positive results.

Here is what I recommend to improve the weblog:

1. Invest in commercial or open-source weblogging software to streamline the publication of this type of campaign communication. Weblogging software packages like, Wordpress or MovableType would allow far more features (permalink, comments, archiving, etc) to be implemented and would mean the weblog would be more accessible to users already familiar with weblogs.
2. Connect the weblog with all aspects of the campaign. Rather than describing frivolous things such as what everyone had for lunch that day on the campaign, use the weblog to bring attention to important campaign events as they happen. If the leader is going to be in a certain area, use the weblog to call attention to this event and to encourage people to contribute, volunteer and or attend the event. Engage your supporters at a deeper level and they will not only have a reason to return to the weblog, but also to return the favour election day.
3. Pay homage to the weblog community. A weblog that fails to link to and engage other webloggers will undoubtedly be a lonely and isolated island of obscurity. A weblog will only thrive if it becomes part of the larger conversation that is taking place in the blogsphere. A quick glance at Technorati shows that the Blackberry Blog has only been linked to 44 times since the blog was created.

Overall the Liberal’s attempt at using a weblog for campaign communication has been a bit of a disapointment. However, Scott has the writing ability to make this a success; he just needs to connect more with the actual campaign and make an effort to engage and interact with the weblog community.

Make sure to return tomorrow for the Conservative Party’s weblog review.