Political parties mostly address like-minded people on the Internet and social networks, and if they communicate directly with the membership and potential voters, they usually do so through communication tools, such as Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger...
More serious parties in campaigns communicate better both publicly and directly.
This, among other things, he told "Vijesti". Dragan Varagić, internet consultant from Novi Sad, commenting on the behavior of politicians and political parties in the online world.
"When analyzing the activities of political parties on the Internet and social networks, one should always take into account how political parties perceive any communication channel: they first address their activists, because they are the most important to them; then, they address their membership and sympathizers; after that they turn to their voters - confident and less confident; they very rarely address those who are not politically like-minded in their campaign messages. When this is taken into account, then it is possible to observe the online activities of politicians in a much more objective way. This is the reason why there is not much two-way communication - they send their messages to those for whom those messages are intended," Varagić told "Vijesta".
According to him, entering an online conversation often brings some conflict of opinion.
"He too may be of interest to their target groups, but is often not particularly important in the context of political campaign goals. With more serious political parties that communicate better with their membership and potential voters, two-way communication is usually direct/private through tools like Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp, etc. More serious parties communicate better both publicly and directly in campaigns," said an internet consultant from Novi Sad.
Presidential elections are being held in Montenegro on March 19, in which seven candidates are participating.
In the race for president are the current president Milo Djukanovic, leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Andrija Mandic, candidate of the Coalition for the Future of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic as a candidate of the Europe Now Movement, Jovan Radulović as an independent candidate, Goran Danilović, candidate of the United Montenegro, leader of the Democrats Aleksa Becic and the only woman, Draginja Vuksanović Stanković, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
All the candidates and the parties that nominated them use the Internet and social networks for the purpose of promotion, but they generally do not communicate with the audience that follows them, but address the voters by sending general messages.
In a scientific paper published in 2021, the author Neven Obradović, referring to the statements of Don Tapscott, states that, compared to traditional media, where citizens listened to speeches, debates and television advertisements and then voted, the era of social networks brought a closer relationship between politicians and an institution with citizens, which is based on interactivity".
”Don Tapscott emphasizes that 'public office holders can now, at no cost, seek the opinion of citizens, providing them with basic online information, online discussions and feedback mechanisms... Such activity engages and mobilizes citizens, creates real-life initiatives in communities and society. as a whole", states Obradović in the paper.
According to Monstat's research on the use of information and communication technologies, in 2022 in Montenegro, 81 percent of surveyed households stated that they had access to the Internet at home.
"In the five-year period, there was an increase in the number of households that have access to the Internet. In 2022, the percentage of households that have access to the Internet at home will increase by 8,8 percentage points (from 72,2% to 81,0%), compared to 2018," Monstat announced earlier.
The survey is conducted in households, in accordance with the Eurostat methodology, and includes households with at least one member aged between 16 and 74.
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