LAS VEGAS, Nev. — WORLD BLOG EXPO — Every year around end of October and beginning of November political yard-signs dot your neighbors lawn and street medians as campaigns try to increase name recognition and push to Get-Out-The-Vote on Election Day and with the 2008 elections now less than a year away, social networking sites and blogs will soon be cultured with electronic yard sign widgets.
Widgets, which are defined as an icon or graphical interface element that can be used by internet users to perform a desired function, are not new to those familiar with the Web 2.0 world, and according to the research firm comScore Media Metrix, Inc., widget penetration in North America during April 2007 was at 40.3 percent of all Internet users who visited a Web site were exposed to some sort of embedded widget.
While widgets might be new to many the within the political world, ElectionMall Technologies, Inc. first began offering electronic yard signs that voters could email to their friends during the 2000 campaign.
Electronic yard signs widgets provide campaigns and voters the opportunity to promote the campaign and also the ability for people to literally identify themselves with a particular campaign. Widgets can be a useful tool to bring in donations from multiple sites with just a small amount of effort and also provide valuable links to polling information or voter registration forms for Get-Out-The-Vote drives.
“Voters are rallying around their candidates and taking it upon themselves to promote their favorite candidates,” said ElectionMall CEO and Founder Ravi Singh. “Just like how campaigns provide yard-signs to all their supporters, campaigns need to make available tools that allow their supporters to place electronic yardsigns on their blogs and Facebook pages.”
Much like the traditional aspect of supporters placing campaign signs in their front lawn to show their support for a specific candidate, younger voters are showing their support for specific candidates by placing these electronic yardsigns on their MySpace and Facebook pages.
“Many times campaigns are a little confused when they see this little script that is at the bottom of their homepage, but after you explain to them how these electronic yard signs work they started to get excited about the possibilities,” said Singh. “With these electronic yard sign widgets campaigns can begin securing real estate on web.”
Singh will be discussing the use of widgets and other online technology tools at the World Blog Expo in Las Vegas, NV where he is speaking on two panel discussions that cover online fundraising on blogs and social networking sites and also political campaign communication with blogs.
“Over the past 20 years campaigns have moved from party centric models to a candidate centric model and right now we are seeing the beginning of a voter centric model,” said Singh.
To learn more about ElectionMall’s electronic yard sign widgets visit http://www.electionmall.com/widget.
About ElectionMall Technologies, Inc.
ElectionMall Technologies, Inc., established in 1999, is a world leader in providing Internet-based non-partisan solutions for elections and campaigns, effectively utilizing technology and business expertise to enable candidates, advocacy groups, or nonprofits to generate enhanced gains in awareness, funds, and votes. Electionmall.com is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. For more information, visit http://www.electionmall.com or call 1-888-WEB-2-WIN.
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