TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      South Africa’s ‘silent revolution’ as those with cash go solar

      15 August 2022

      SA coal giant Seriti Resources in pivot to renewables

      15 August 2022

      Tencent, TikTok share details of prized algorithms with Beijing

      15 August 2022

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022
    • World

      Institutions eye crypto but retail investors remain nervous

      15 August 2022

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Editor's pick»SA political parties flunk online

    SA political parties flunk online

    Editor's pick By Duncan McLeod4 February 2014
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    vote-640

    If the 2014 general elections were decided based on the effectiveness of South African political parties’ online presence, the Democratic Alliance would win, although it would only score a D+.

    This is the conclusion of a study conducting by Strategy Worx, which has launched an online audit tool to allow organisations to test the effectiveness of their online presence. The company used the tool to test the effectiveness of several political parties’ online presence.

    The DA topped the list with 58%, followed by new party Agang SA (52%), the ANC (46%) and the Congress of the People (Cope; 35%). The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP; 21%) came stone last.

    “Only two parties scored a ‘university pass’, with overall scores of higher than 50%; two received a ‘matric pass’ with scores of between 30% and 50%; and one failed miserably with a score of 21%,” says Strategy Worx MD Steven Ambrose in a statement.

    “The scores showed all the parties fell well short of online best practice, and it is clear that none of the political parties effectively use the online environment to communicate with their intended audience.”

    The company analysed parties’ websites from a content and usability perspective as well as their social media activity. For reference and perspective, the sites were also compared to the websites they had live at 2009 general election. The US Democratic Party website was also used as a reference benchmark and the strategy and content section was then given a 20% additional weighting because of its importance to effective online presence, and because basic usability and interface design has become fairly easy to implement online.

    Ambrose says newcomer Agang appears to have the best understanding of the online environment, with its score being hindered by “fundamental usability and strategic content issues”. These affected Agang’s ability to communicate effectively online. The design, layout and content, reflect a coherent approach to online, with support from a YouTube channel and social media platforms integrating well with other online activity.

    The DA placed first because of its “extensive use of social media and its comprehensive presence across the Web”.

    “The DA has numerous secondary websites focusing on regional areas and even individual sites for certain party leaders. The party’s use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media properties was generally consistent and appropriate,” Ambrose says.

    The ANC, meanwhile, uses its online presence as a broadcast medium. This reflects a “fundamental misunderstanding and misuse of the online medium”.

    “The ANC website lacks strategic intent, and does not clarify who its intended audience is, nor does the website make any effort to engage with its constituency,” says Ambrose. “Basic usability missteps and key strategic content challenges detracted from the usefulness and usability of the main site and a user would have to resort to searching using a site like Google to piece together information on the party.”

    Cope appears to be “caught in a time warp”, Ambrose says. “Its website is more of a placeholder for party propaganda and news releases than anything else,” he says. “Little has changed on the site since the last election. Cope’s use of social media platforms is limited and stilted and there is little understanding or focus on interaction and engagement with members or prospective members.”

    But Cope wasn’t nearly as bad as the last-placed IFP, whose website is “absolutely archaic”.

    “The overall look is so completely out of sync with the modern Web that is it jarring and confusing. The site, as it stands, is seriously damaging to the brand, and given the availability of free online tools like WordPress, it is clear that no effort has been made to position the party online effectively. To minimise the negative impact of the current site, the IFP should remove the site and start again.”

    The analysis shows that all the political parties surveyed lack coherent online strategies and an integrated mobile strategy and have a “critically poor grasp” of the synergy between social media platforms, websites and organisational communication strategy.

    Ambrose says for the most part, political parties failed to communicate online effectively who they are, what they do, what they stand for, and gave a haphazard picture at best of how they are structured.

    “News announcements, blogs and social media posts too often degenerated into social commentary on the opposition without providing sufficient information about why its intended audience should consider supporting them as a party. They also did not make it easy, for the most part, for interested parties to engage with them or to provide financial and/or physical assistance.”  — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media

    Steven Ambrose Strategy Worx
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleDA urges ‘remedial steps’ at SABC
    Next Article Dimension Data in big Europe acquisition

    Related Posts

    African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

    11 August 2022

    The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

    7 August 2022

    As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

    2 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Seven reasons your business needs IP surveillance cameras

    15 August 2022

    5G your life for faster, more reliable home or mobile connectivity

    15 August 2022

    World’s fastest compact firewall for hyperscale data centres, 5G networks

    15 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.