The Sociological Concepts Of Building Online Political Activism

This report investigates the sociological concepts for building communities for online political activism. Examines web analytics suitable for political oriented campaigns. Includes a brief description of the background of 38 Degree - an UK based organisation for political activism. The discussion then focuses on the advantages of using Google Analytics for political oriented campaigns. The performance of Google Analytics is measured with regards to the 2012 campaign Obama for America.

Table of Content:
Introduction……………………………………………………………………..…….2
Building Online Activist Communities……………………………………..3
Building Online Activist campaign…………………………………………...3
WOM Marketing …………………………………………………………………….4
Research and Data……………………………………………………………………5

Online activist communities seem to be both an expression of a devalued political culture and the promise of some healthier alternative. They convey the legitimate demands of people who feel inadequately represented by professional politicians and journalists. First step for building engaged activist community is understanding of the political consumerism.
Political consumption /PC/ is an increasingly popular form of consumer behaviour. It can be informed by several motivations that are simultaneously individual and private or community oriented and public (Atkinson, 2012). PC does not replace traditional forms of engagement and the fact that individuals who engage in political consumption are also likely to participate in other forms of political engagement, such as demonstrating or being a member of an association. (Baek, 2010; Copeland &Smith, 2014; Newman & Bartels, 2011; Strømsnes, 2009) as cited in (Atkinson, 2015). The same author distinguishes four different types of political quadrants, the core audience for activist

Create a rallying cry - for instance: Barack Obama's 'Yes we can'.
Develop a badge – most movements and non-for profit organisations rely on people to be their media. Giving a visible sign of their support is critical.

WOM Marketing
38 Degree members are who set the agenda. The role of the organisation is to help its members to choose the campaign, tactics and support technologically and with content writing issues. (38 Degrees, 2017)
Clearly, the organisation is implementing the Network coproduction model for developing WOM.
Network Coproduction Model refers to actions where the consumers are regarded as active coproducers of value and meaning, whose WOM use of marketing communications can be idiosyncratic, creative, and even resistant
(Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003; Kozinets 2001; Muñiz and Schau 2005; Thompson and Sinha 2008) as cited in (Kozinets et al., 2010). WOM communications are coproduced in consumer