In Wiki-Politics, Ron Paul Leads the Field
Written by Matt Pace (contact - e-mail) -- August 30th, 2007 |
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At this time during the run up to the last presidential election, Wikipedia was in its infancy. In July of 2003, the online encyclopedia attracted less than half a million US visitors. Fast forward four years. In July of 2007 over 41 million people, or 1 in 4 people online in the US, visited the site. Wikipedia is now the 12th most visited website and is likely to play a significant role in informing and influencing those who will choose our next president.
All of the candidates have exhaustive articles dedicated to them on Wikipedia that offer in-depth biographical information and near-real time updates on the ups and downs of their campaigns. As anyone (including supporters and detractors) can edit the information, Wikipedia provides a counterweight to the carefully scripted information released on the candidates’ official websites.
The table below compares the activity on each candidate’s Wikipedia articles in July in terms of total readers, time spent on the article (reading, commenting, editing, etc.) and their share of all time spent across all of these articles. Finally, the table compares the overlap between a candidate’s Wikipedia readership and their official website traffic. For example, in July, 42% of the people who read Ron Paul’s Wikipedia article also visited RonPaul2008.com.
Rankings across these metrics were then averaged. Who comes out on top? The results might come as a surprise to those accustomed to seeing the party front runners capturing all of the headlines.
Observations:
- Lesser known, grass-roots supported candidates, such as Ron Paul, fare particularly well in this comparison. Although trailing rivals in national polls, Paul attracts a sizable following on Wikipedia. In July his article was second only to Barack Obama’s in terms of readership, but accounted for nearly a quarter of all time spent across all of the candidates’ articles. This certainly speaks to the avid devotion of Paul’s supporters (online in particular).
- Household names such as Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani trail rivals in this comparison. The modest interest seen in their Wikipedia articles could be a result of the public’s general familiarity with candidates whose lives of late have played out on the public stage.
- The front runners from both parties appear to capture a wider range of readership (not just supporters) than the 2nd tier candidates, given the low levels of campaign site visitation among their Wikipedia article readers.
- Fred Thompson attracted considerably more Wikipedia interest than his leading Republican rivals in July, not surprising given the uncertainty surrounding his entry into the race and his party’s continued search for favorite candidate.
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August 30th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
There is also quite a large Ron Paul community on IRC and Pibb as well as many other Web 2.0 communities. The question is how do we move the groundswell of support into the real world..
August 30th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Rudy Giuliani or Vampire Ghouliani?
August 30th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
The move from online support to real world support for Ron Paul has already started. In the last 20 straw polls, Paul has finished first in 6 and in the top 3 in nearly all the rest. Adding up all of the votes cast in these 20 polls, Ron Paul is in first place overall.
Also, take a look out your window. It’s quite likely that you will have seen the Ron Paul signs showing up just about everywhere. Here in the Tampa Bay area there are hundreds of Ron Paul signs around and NONE for any other candidate.
Ron Paul now has a grassroots army in excess of 38,000 members in over 800 MeetUp groups. And this number is growing literally every day.
When we go out campaigning on the street we ask people to Google or Wikipedia Ron Paul. I think that accounts for the lead he has built up on these sites. Look for a big increase in August as it is in the month of August that most of the MeetUp groups have had most of their activity to date.
The Ron Paul Revolution - coming soon to YOUR neighborhood.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:46 am
Read and sign the Ron Paul Is Right – Abolish the Federal Reserve Petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/fed/petition.html
October 1st, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Kevin Fox: Contribute to the Ron Paul News Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK8lMqrcc0E
October 1st, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I think the best way for Ron Paul’s campaign to translate his online success into real world success would be to create a push for getting online donations through his website. Put something on his site to inspire people to donate. The fact that his website is the most viewed site of all the other candidates should guarantee that this type of online support translating into real world dollars would work.
Oh wait, he already proved he can do that by raising over $1 million online in less than a week.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Bill:
I agree that $1 million plus is an awesome accomplishment, but it shows that freedom lovers (not just Ron Paul supporters) are lacking in terms of putting their money where their mouth is: to promote the message of freedom, not just the politics. Ron Paul himself knows that the strength of his message is in the message, not in winning the Presidency.
Google Ron Paul Billion Boost to read my opinion on why the Paul campaign should be running a billion dollar campaign not a multimillion dollar one.
December 16th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
@ Bill Moore and AB Dada: sup? Dec. 16. Teaparty.
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December 4th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I have been reading here for a while now and thought it would only be fair to register and contribute instead of being a silent reader. So – I am looking forward to be a full part of the community!
Take care!
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