Coming to you...tube

The speeches are pretty dull and most of the candidates duller still, but as the battle for the next Presidency of the United States continues along it’s inexorable path, one small ray of interest can be found in looking at the way that the candidates and the parties have comprehensively embraced and are using the internet.

In June the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee launched and distributed a 39 page long internet guide to GOP Senate campaigns.

Amongst the key points in the guide was the advice to:

‘Make blogs your first point of contact. It used to be that campaigns checked in with newspaper reporters, then everybody else. Now, friendly blogs should be the first point of contact’.

That is a huge change in emphasis, and a direction that force media offices would be wise to start considering (if not emulating) sooner rather than later.

The internet is also transforming fundraising in presidential races. "It's inevitable that the Internet will become the principal means of fundraising from now on," said one campaign-finance expert. "It's the only way you get a million people to each give you $10 on the same day."

And give they are, with over $40 million raised online by the candidates in the first six months of the campaign. One candidate alone (Barack Obama, Senator for Illinois) raised $17.2m through online donors in the first six months.

But the power of the internet is not in fundraising alone, it’s in its reach and scope.

Michael Malbin, of the Campaign Finance Institute, says "Online fundraising is part of a strategy that's not only about money, it's about trying to build networks, building support among people to whom you can go back - people who can be reached at low cost and reached repeatedly," And therein lies the power. The ability to have a conversation with many. The ability to motivate and move to action. Not through some third party media outlet, but directly to and with the citizen.

The importance of the democratisation of information and citizen access certainly hasn’t been overlooked by the aspiring candidates. Just this last week the Deomocratic candidates engaged in a ground breaking debate with citizens via YouTube and CNN. The Republican debate is due in September. Real citizens, real debate.

The current UK police service attitude to the internet is frustrating and quite frankly inexplicable. It isn’t recognised as the powerful tool that it is, it isn’t utilised as a mainstream business mechanism and it’s communication attributes aren’t evenly remotely explored. Whenever I talk to colleagues about the internet they appear ignorant of developments, have no idea of any performance metrics and generally appear to see the whole thing as irrelevant to policing. It will be interesting to see how and if that changes with the new PSA target regarding satisfaction with local agencies coming soon. Perception will become increasingly important. Reaching people to help shape that perception: critical.

Bottom line. If potential future Presidents consider the internet a key tool in effective modern communications and citizen involvement, isn’t there a fair chance that it has a role to play in your force or BCU area?