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Situation: This article pertains to the United States' Presidential Elections of 2008 that was won by Barack Obama and his usage of the Internet as well as Social Media. The reason he won the 2008 elections was not just because of his presidential policies, but however due to his personal reach and trust that the Internet will help fund and run a primary part of his campaign. Social and Ethical Significance: This article talks about how online campaigning is the key to 90%+ of political campaigns of the future and how they function. The article takes the (obvious) example of Barack Obama's presidential campaign of 2008 that was a historic campaign for multiple reasons. The article [published in 2008], claims that the primary reason that Obama succeeded because he "understood the potential of social media to communicate and raise funds - leaving his 72-year old opponent floundering." This campaign is the first election where all candidates utilised online social networks like Facebook [and still popular then, MySpace] to send forward their messages. This article also talks about personal knowledge of a person can be gained by reading a candidate's personal details such as favourite musicians and pastimes. Obama was successful on Facebook, rather than other competition, because he was engaging to people younger to him on his online campaigns, who appreciate casual behaviour, online and offline[while his competition kept it overly professional online]. "At 47, he may be older than the average user there, but Obama is a natural Facebook politician. On his personal profile there - which featured his "Our Moment is Now" motto - Obama named his favourite musicians as Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan, and listed his pastimes as basketball, writing, and "loafing w/kids" " Stakeholders: Candidates - They are the people relying on the Internet and their campaigns, that he can get the kind of reach he needs to move forward in his own elections. Voters - They

Scenario: This article from the guardian focuses upon the positives to online campaigning, and states that citizens should drop the criticism they impose upon online campaigning. Instead of stating the possible concerns alongside online campaigning, the article mentions Barack Obama and the success he has achieved through extensive online campaigning. The author seems to firmly believe that online campaigning should simply be accepted and embraced instead of criticized. Social and Ethical significance: With the widespread use of digital technology all over the globe, it is not a surprise that many political candidates have understood the power of the online world, and have played it to their advantage. As mentioned in the article, Barrack Obama spent a generous amount of capital on his online campaigns, and this eventually led to his success in becoming president. Above all, online campaigns can give candidates a voice which extends far beyond the reach of their rallies or campaign areas, a voice that all citizens who are involved in the voting procedure may then acknowledge and be influenced by. IT Systems: Online campaigning can be accomplished through many varying methods. However, one popular form of online campaigning involves candidates publishing advertisements/campaigns on popular media websites, such as youtube. Anyone who then watches a video on youtube will have to watch the advertisement campaign before proceeding. There are very few IT systems which are involved in accomplishing this step. First, the candidate approaches the website giant and forms an advertisement contract. Then, the candidate provides the corporation with a form of advertisement. This can be in text, image, or video format. The corporation then uploads this form of advertisement onto their servers, and the advertisement is incorporated into their ads section and in some form affiliated with their website so that users of the website may also experience the campa