Online Politics 101 E-Book Provides Free Advocacy Guide for Political Campaigns and...

Online Politics 101 E-Book Provides Free Advocacy Guide for Political
Campaigns and Citizen Activists

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the 2008 U.S.
elections less than five months away, epolitics.com has released an updated
e-book to give political campaigners, advocacy groups and individual citizens
a comprehensive guide to using the Internet to promote candidates, shape
public opinion, motivate supporters and raise money for political causes.
"Online Politics 101: The Tools and Tactics of Online Advocacy," looks
comprehensively at the Internet political organizing methods that work
today, with new sections on cutting-edge tools such as Facebook, Twitter
and online advertising. Expanded chapters explore topics including online
video, viral marketing and online fundraising. The 52-page, free handbook
also discusses topics ranging from the essentials of building an effective
campaign website to the use of blogs to promote candidates and issues.
"The Internet truly came of age as a political tool in 2008," says
epolitics.com founder and editor Colin Delany. "The Internet worked its way
into just about every aspect of the presidential primaries, both benefiting
and hurting the candidates in the process. From fundraising to the
Reverend Wright videos to the Ron Paul army to Barack Obama's new
FightTheSmears.com website, we've seen online politics become a central
story in the U.S. elections. The 'Online Politics 101' e-book will help
campaigns and activists at all levels and of all political persuasions use
the Internet to mobilize support and create change."
According to Julie Barko Germany, executive director of the Institute for
Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University, "It's
a no-brainer that the Internet is important for cultivating political
supporters and advocates, but it's sometimes hard to separate the fads from
the tactics and strategies that work. Online Politics 101 provides an
executive crash course in online politics, and Colin Delany is a most
excellent guide through the sometimes tricky world of politics on the
Internet."
"Online Politics 101" treats Internet advocacy as an integrated subject,
arguing that the various online tactics work best when tied tightly
together with each other and with a campaign's offline organizing. The
e-book lays out several essential rules for online politics and focuses on
which methods work best in different settings and why. Featured throughout
the handbook are examples of both successful and failed attempts to promote
ideas and candidates online. Since its release in September of 2006, over
12,000 copies of the original version of "Online Politics 101" have been
downloaded from epolitics.com.
In addition to the new e-book, epolitics.com provides daily updates on the
latest developments in the world of politics and campaigning
online. Articles have examined trends in online advertising, the growing
use of online video, the spread of the Internet as a tool in local
politics, the use of text messages for voter mobilization, the importance
of behind-the-scenes political databases in getting supporters to the polls
and many other online political topics.
A twelve-year veteran of utilizing the web, email and other digital tools
in numerous online advocacy and public education campaigns, Delany launched
epolitics.com in July, 2006. The site's daily articles are supplemented by
occasional pieces from outside communications, campaign and policy experts.
Delany also speaks regularly at online advocacy conferences, and will be
attending the Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York CityJune
23-24. Delany will be back in Washington, D.C., speaking at the Media
Future Now lunch on June 25th and at the Democracy In Action conference on
June 26-27.
"Online Politics 101" can be read directly or downloaded as a PDF document
at: http://www.epolitics.com
SOURCE epolitics.com

Colin Delany of epolitics.com, +1-202-422-4682, cpd@epolitics.com