Politicians Give Web 2.0 a Go

With a federal election coming up, politicians on all sides are looking to use the internet to engage new supporters and interact with current followers online.

The American politicians have been doing this for a few years now, and the huge media attention generated have prompted the Aussies to have a go.

Politicians with their own Impact page (a secure version of the popular MySpace platform) can interact with online communities through various Web 2.0 elements like blogging and messaging, and multimedia such as videos and music.

This interaction with communities is a response to what is happening everywhere now: more and more people go online to investigate almost anything, and when they get there they increasingly expect interaction.

The online community is expected to have a big impact in this election. Businesses hesitant about using Web 2.0 technologies such as Blogging should sit up and take notice. If the politicians feel that the benefits outweigh the risks (and who is more cautious than a politician?), then perhaps it is time for these businesses to investigate how much more the internet can do for them.