Publication: Romanian Journal of Marketing Author: Tierean, Ovidiu Date published: October 1, 2010 Ovidiu TIEREAN

Universitatea Transilvania Brasov Rezumat Articolul este structurat pe trei parti: retelele sociale, social media si media generata de utilizatori. Articolul se vrea a fi un ndrumar pentru politicieni n tentativa lor de a se face mai vizibili pe spatiul virtual. Prima sectiune prezinta principalele retele sociale si sfaturi pentru a comunica prin intermediul lor. Sectiunea a doua explica varietatea social media si riscurile la care se expun politicienii care o adopta. Ultima sectiune prezinta media generata de utilizatori cu avantajele si dezavantajele ei. Cuvinte-cheie: retea sociala, media generata de utilizatori, candidati Introducere n zilele noastre multe campanil politice experi menteaz noi metode de a transmite mesaje ctre indecisi si de a motiva staff-u I de Campanie. Ce ar trebui s intreprind consultanti de Campanie si candidaci n privinja noilor medii digitale? Care strategii funcfioneaz? Ce ar putea distruge reputala unui candidat? Acestea sunt ntrebarile la care articolul ncearca s rspund. Pentru nceput se vor expune trei metode de baz pentru foiosi rea conceptului de "social media". n prima, Campania politica lucreaz cu site-uri de resele sociale cum ar fi Facebook (facebook.com) sau Hi5 (hi5.com) pentru a transmite mesaje ctre un electorat nou. Prin a doua metod, staff-u I candidatului construieste aplicapi pentru resele socialem propriul lui site de promovare a campaniei, ca s-si motiveze suporterii existent*. Prin cea de-a treia metod, candidatul se poate foiosi de avantajul dat de vasta rspandire a conp'nutului creat de utilizatori (user-created content), pentru a transforma vizitatorii ocazionali n activist! pasionafi.

Retele sociale

Site-urile de resele sociale pot fi o metod foarte bun de a transmite mesaje ctre un auditoriu nou, desi, pentru cele mai multe campanil politice, aceste site-uri vor suplimenta mai mult dect s substituie numrul de vizitatori ai site-ului propriu. Dar pentru nceputce suntsite-urile de refele sociale? Web site-urile de refele sociale sunt construite pentru a permite publicului si organizafiilor s-si fac pagini biografice si s le conecteze de alte pagini biografice. Aceste pagini funfioneaz pe modelul "cercului de prieteni". Este de presupus c cele mai multe refele de "prieteni" conectafi au la baz un precedent n lumea real, desi ele cresc rapid n dimensiuni si depsesc nucleul inifial. Utilizatorii pot urmri conexiuni de la o biografie la alta din curiozitate, sau pentru a-si cauta prieteni, rude, clienfi sau susfintori. De obicei ei pot efecta cutri dup cuvinte cheie si pot lsa comentarii la profile. ?-fi face "prieteni" nseamna s citesti o biografie si s ceri o conexiune. Utilizatorii cei mai agresivi strng mii de utilizatori, dintre care cei mai mulfi nici macar nu i-au cunoscutn persoan. Site-urile de refele sociale funcfioneaz ca instrumente de comunicare n mas cnd utilizatorii trimit mesaje catre "prieteni i" lor, ctre tofi deodat. Hi5, Facebook si MySpace (myspace.com) sunt cele mai cunoscute refele sociale n Romania n aceast ordine, dar la nivel internafional ordinea este cu totul alta: Facebook, MySpace si Hi5. Hi5 este eel mai cunoscut site de refele sociale din Romania. Acesta a fost fondt n 2003 de Ramu Yalamanci, student indian la Informatica la Universitatea din Illinois. n ianuarie 2009, Hi5 avea 60 milioane untilizatori fiind pe locul 38 n topul realizat de site-ul Alexa (alexa.com) dup numrul de vizite unice pe zi. (Swartz, 2008) Facebook este cel mai cunoscut site de refele sociale din lume, fiind pe locul 2 n topul Alexa dup motorul de cutare Google dup numrul de vizite unice pe zi. Acest site a fost fondt de Mark Zucherberg si colegii lui de camera de la Harvard si inifial a fost destint nlesnirii comunicarli ntre fostii coleg de facltate (Facebook, 2009). Astzi, site-ul are 300 milioane de utilizatori activi, dintre care 50% si verifica zilnic pagina biografica. Cfrele de "consum" de Facebook sunt impresionante:

* n medie utilizatorii au 130 de "prieteni".

* Mai mult de 6 miliarde de minute sunt petrecute pe site n fiecare zi.

* Mai mult de 40 milioane de utilizatori si modifica pagina biografica zilnic.

* Mai mult de 10 milioane de utilizatori devin fani ai aplicafiilor Facebook zilnic.

* n jurde 2 miliarde de poze si 14 milioane de fi Imulefe sunt ncarcate pe site lunar.

* n jur de 2 miliarde de piese de confinut gnrt de utilizatori sunt ncarcate n flecare sptman (link-uri web, stiri, postri de bloguri, notife de jurnal, poze).

* Aproximativ 45 milioane de grupuri de "prieteni" organizeaz 3 milioane de eveni mente promovate pe site lunar. Confinutul informafiilor de pe Facebook este tradus n 68 de limbi, deoarece 70% dintre utilizatori sunt din afara Statelor Unite. Veniturile estimate pentru 2008 sunt de 300 milioane USD. (Facebook, 2009) MySpace a deven it eel mai cunoscut site de refele sociale n Statele Unite n iunie 2006 (Cashmore, 2006). Conform site-ului comScore (comscore.com), MySpace a fost depsit de Facebook ca numr de utilizatori unici lunari n aprilie 2008 (Techtree, 2008). Site-ul are n jur de 100 milioane de utilizatori si se afl pe locul 11 n topul Alexa al vizitatorilor unici zilnic. Confinutul site-ului este tradus n 15 limbi, romna nefiind una dintre eie. Din moment ce activarea unei pagini pe oricare din site-urile de resele sociale este att de simpl si rapida si cum aceste site-uri au asa public larg, multe organizajii de consultala si corporali experi menteaz acest nou mediu. Utilizatorii site-urilor de resele sociale sunt tineri, astfel site-urile sunt instrumente bune de Campanie, care ncearca s trimit mesaje elevilor si studenjilor din licee sau universitari, dar si absolvenjilor tineri. 3

Site-urile de resele sociale includ automat n pagina biografica funeri de blogging, deci reclele sociale sunt modalitji de promovare a blogurilor, asta daca utilizatorii nu au deja un blog pe alta platform de blogging. CeI mai important motor de cautare al blogurilor, Technorati (technorati.com) indexeazchiarsi blogurile deschise de site-urile de resele sociale, astfel nct acum toate blogurile sunt conctate n blogosfera mondial. De multe ori paginile biografice sunt "brosuri" ale utilizatorilor, o carte de vizit online si astfel o sansa pentru politicieni pentru a-si face cunoscut numele printre susjintorii potenziali. Pentru a-si mari vizibilitatea online, politicienii trebuie s pun link-uri ctre site-urile speciale de Campanie sau ctre pagini n care se discuta mai pe larg programul de Campanie. Este de prfrt s existe de asemenea un buton de adugare la lista de drese de e-mail ("join my e-mail list") si un buton pentru donaci online. Designul paginii biografice estefoarte important. Multe pagini biografice au un aspect iptor si i ntmpina pe vizitatori cu sunete si imagini care socheaz Ia prima vedere. nele pagini sunt att de ncarcate nct este imposibil de citit confinutul lor. Este de prfrt ca politicienii s foloseasc poze si imagini care s scoat n evidenza linkurile importante si care dramatizeaz problemele pe care acestia le ridica. Ca si celelalte piese din puzzelul strategie! online, rezultatele obfinute din site-urile de reclele de social media depind n general de ct efort este depus: daca politicienii doar posteaz un confinut pe pagina lor biografica si asteapt vizitatorii s apar, se vor trezi cu foarte pufini vizitatori. Acestea sunt doar cteva sfaturi pentru a creste numrul de vizite: * Fii agresiv - campanule de succs bazate pe reclele sociale aduc mul^i susjintori. Pentru politicienii novice n resele sociale este important s viziteze paginile grupurilor care discuta problme similare cu cele ridicate de politician si s cear s devina membru al grupului. De asemenea este de prfrt ca politicianul c creeze legturi directe cu membr grupului. Cu ct linkul profilului politicianului apare pe mai multe pagini biografice la secjiunea de "prieteni", eu att sunt mai mari sansele ca vizibilitatea politicianului n acea rejea sodala s crease. * Foloseste reclele sociale pentru a promova alerte de Campanie - politicienii pot trimite mesaje generale ctre tofi "prieteni i" (mass messages) si pot lsa un link ctre conjinutul mesajului pe pagina biografica. Este foarte probabil ca vizitatorii paginii biografice s se nscrie ca activisti pe pagina de Campanie, daca politicianul i ndeamna s ia msuri.

* Cere "prietenilor" s posteze alrtele tale pe paginile lor - daca discuoile de Campanie pe care politicienii le ridica sunt de inters, "prietenii" sunt domici s-l ajute pe politician s fac cunoscut discufia n ntreaga refea sodala. n plus, "prietenii" vor avea si ei un confinut interesant pe pagina biografica. * Trimite informafii ctre "prietenii" tai des - utilizatorii de refele sociale sunt n mod constant bombardafi cu mesaje, asa c politicienii nu au de ce s-si fac griji c acestia se vor satura de spamuri. Folosirea de liste de utilizatori nu pare a fi nca o problema, cnd e vorba de refele sociale, cum se ntmpla n domeniul email-ului, astfei c polticienii pot trimite mesaje de reamintire periodic n afara campaniei si mesaje targetate n timpul campaniei. De asemenea trebuie refi nute urmtoarele idei: * Utilizatorii de refele sociale formeaz multe segmente mici si heterogene iar multi utilizatori folosesc retelele sociale pentru matrimoniale sau promovare individuala. Politicienii se pot trezi cu "prieteni" mai putin Conventionali si trebuie s se pregteasc s fac faf unor cereri ciudate. Acest pu net de vedere este mai important pentru o Campanie personale dect pentru o Campanie de propaganda la nivelul frii. Este usor de imagint ce ar spune opozifia daca ar gasi printre "prietenii" unui candidat, un "prieten" cu poze sau comentarii care l-ar pune n dificltate pe politician. Strategia dominant este de a accepta toate cererile de "prietenie", dar staff-u I care se ocup de refele sociale trebuie instruit cum s se comporte eu cererile nonconformiste. De asemenea purttorul de cuvant al politicianului sau partidului va trebui s fac faf unor atacuri de imagine din partea presei si a opozifiei. * "Prietenii" cresc exponenfial - eu ct mai mulfi vizitatori vd o pagina biografica, cu att mai mulfi utilizatori vor vrea s se conecteze la acea pagina biografica, astfel ca este de dorit ca nca de la nceput politicienii si partidele s aib "prieteni" cu mulfi "prieteni". Daca pe pagina de Campanie sau pe site-ul propriu (diferit de paginile biografice din refelele sociale) exista opfiunea de "mass messages" din liste de email-uri sau opfiunea de newsletter, n acestea trebuie menfionat pagina biografica din refelele sociale. Persoanele din liste trebuie invitate s devin "prietenii" politicianului. Cu ct este mai mare baza inifial de prieteni, cu att cresterea va fi mai rapida. * Ca si n cazul celorlalte site-uri care sunt deschise, paginile biografice din refelele sociale trebuie menfinute cu confinut nou si la zi. ntre politicieni exista frica de a nu avea destul timp pentru a ntrefine paginile biografice. Un truc folosit de politicenii din Statele Unite este de a foiosi feed-urile RSS de pe pagina principal de Campanie, pentru a menfine paginile biografice de pe refelele sociale. Paginile refelelor sociale blocheaz scripturile Java, aplicafiile cele mai folosite pentru a afisa feed-uri de pe site-uri n afara refelei sociale respective, dar informaticienii au construit aplicafii care con vertesc feed-uri le n imagini, care pot fi ncarcate 5

pe paginile refelelor sociale. La o simpl cutare Google despre cum s afisezi feed-uri RSS pe pagini sociale, se gsesc aplicafii gratis, care se pot foiosi intuitiv. * De asemenea este important ca cei care se ocup de profilul candidatului pe refele sociale s nu fie tineri alesi la ntmplare, doar pentru csunttineri si "se pricep". Un profil ntr-o refea sodala este la fel de important ca si site-ul de Campanie si trebuie s transmita mesajul de Campanie. De aceea este nevoie s fie intgrt n strategia de comunicare politica. O alta metod de a foiosi uneltele de social media este de le integra direct n site-ul propriu de Campanie, lsand utilizatorilor posibilitatea s-si creeze pagini biografice pe site-ul de Campanie. Beneficiul evident este c utilizatorii se vor identifica cu candidatul sau partidul: dac acestia creeaz pagini biografice pe site si le viziteazan mod constant, probabilitatea de a se identifica cu candidatul si Campania creste si astfel unii utilizatori vor deveni voluntan implica^i n Campanie. Cu mesaje de susjinere si ncurajare, utilizatorii de pagini biografice de pe un site de Campanie se vor implica agresivn a creste vizibilitatea site-ului ctre familie si cunoscufi. De asemenea prin aplicajii de rejele sociale, utilizatorii pot organiza singuri acfiuni care pot ajuta la promovarea campaniei. Dezavantajul potenziai este acelasi cu cel al folosirii blogurilor de Campanie si anume utilizatorii vor afisa un conjinut pe site-ul candidatului, iar cei care se ocup de site dejin control limitt asupra acestui conjinut. Profesionistii n comunicare stiu cum s controleze mesajul unei campanil politice si este difcil pentru ei s lase friele unei campami pe mna utilizatorilor amatori n comunicare. O a doua problema deriva din magnitudinea redus a multor campanil. Facebook si Hi5 depind de "efectul de refea": site-urile de regele sociale sunt cu att mai folositoare eu ct au mai mulji utilizatori. Aplicafiile de rejele sociale folosite pe site-uri proprii funcfioneaz eficient dac au un numarnsemnatde utilizatori, dar site-urile de campanil lectorale nu atrag att de mulfi utilizatori. Este de vitt publicitatea negativa pe care o creeaz esecul folosirii aplicaflor de regele sociale pe site-uri proprii, prin strngerea unui numr infim de utilizatori, fiind un esec vizibil ntr-un mediu de comunicare cum este intemetul. n ciuda dezavantajelor potenziale, site-urile de Campanie dar si corporafle media experi menteaz aplicable de regele sociale proprii. Un asemenea experiment I-a fcut ziarul Washington Post (washingtonpost.com). Pe site, cititorii pot lsa comentar dupa flecare stire, ncepnd de la stiri mondene si terminnd cu subiecte politice delicate, binenjeles dup ce editorii s-au asigurat c mecanismul de filtrare al confinutului funefioneaz. Apoi, site-ul a ncurajat cititorii s-si creeze pagini biografice, care au centralizat toate comentariile fcute de cititori. Astfel fiecare cititor devine el nsusi autor! Acest lucru nu numai c ntareste legatura strnsa a cititorului cu site-ul, dar creeaz premisele unei raspndiri a vestii despre articolele cititorilor si astfel sunt atrasi mai mulji 6

cititori. Transformarea cititorilor n autori pasionaji dar si marketeri agresivi este un exemplu de urmat pentru orice organizare, fie ea si politica. Social media n continuare v propun s lrgim viziunea si s urmrim lumea mai larga a social media. Dar despre ce este vorba mai exact? Social media este un termen mai larg dect social networking (rejele sociale): acest termen se refera la orice confinut creat de utilizatori de site-uri si nu la persoane sau grupuri profesionisten comunicare de orice fel. Doua exemple dare n acest sens sunt YouTube (youtube.com) si Wikipedia (wikipedia.org), dar si orice blog care permite postarea de comentarii. n afara de exemplele evidente de bloguri politice, cum pot campanule politice sa foloseasca social media? De cte ori se deschid n fafa conjinutului generai de utilizatori, politicienii si asuma unele riscuri. Mulji profesionisti n campanil politice vor avea greutafi n a nfelege acest concept, din cauza ca prea multe campani i au fost "stricate" n trecut de candidaci sau componenti ai staff-ului de Campanie, care au divulgai informagli. De aceea consilierii de Campanie sunt obisnuifi ca informatile care trebuie sa ajunga Ia public si la mass media sa fie filtrate cu atenfie. Daca o Campanie urmeaza sa foloseasca social media, securitatea informafiilor este esentala: conjinutul cret de utilizatori trebuie filtrat si aprobat de specialisti! n comunicare, nainte de a fi accesat de public pe site. Pentru a nu infuria pe "autori", staff-u I nsarcinat cu recelele sociale trebuie sa aprobe sau sa blocheze n timp scurt o multitudine de articole si comentarii. Utilizatorii devin frustraci cnd confinutul lor nu apare imediat pe site. Daca un comentariu sau articol nu trece de "cenzura" si este blocat, staff-u I trebuie sa contacteze "automi" si sa-si explice decizia de a bloca continutul. Acestea fiind spuse, permisiunea de a genera conjinut, data membrilor si utilizatorilor, are unele avantaje tactice. Pentru nceput, utilizarea de social media aduna capacitate de analiza si idei de la mai mulfi oameni, n raport cu care orice politician poate angaja - astfel ca se poate spune ca un politician foloseste inteligenfa colectiva a unei mici parfi din comunitatea Intemetului. Majoritatea ideilor vor fi nefolositoare, binenjeles, dar unele comentarii si postari se dovedesc a fi scntei, care pot duce la explozii de imagine si popularitate. Ca un exemplu, n vara lui 2006, Campania lui Ned Lamontca senator de Connecticut a folosit n mare masura fIlmele create de utilizatori. Susjinatorii lui Lamont au filmt aparijiile oponentului sau, Joe Lieberman si le-au descarcat pe site-ul lui Lamont. Gafe minore care de altfel ar fi trecut neobservate n trecut, au fost astfel la discreda tuturor vizitatorilor site-ului, iar cei din spatele camerelor de filmt s-au simjit ca un element esencial

al campaniei. Susfinatorii lui Lamont au mers mai departe si au folosit filmarile n propriile reclame electorale postate online. Dar sabia social media poate avea doua taisuri: pentru Campania lui Lamont, social media a nsemnat si necazuri cnd un blogger simpatizant a postt o poza trucata a lui Lieberman cu faja unui omdeculoare. Domnisoaran cauza aavutintenjiadeasatiriza intenda lui Lieberman de a atrage voturile populap'ei de cubare, dar si-a taiat singura craca de sub picioare: staff-ul de Campanie al lui Lieberman a reacjionat iar Lamont a fost nevoit sa nege public implicarea sa n aceasta chestiune. n cele din urma Lamont a castigai alegerile dar a trebuit sa dea multe explicafii si a periclitt voturile populajiei de cubare. (Delany, 2008) Dupa cum am vazut, refelele sociale si social media pot fi att o binecuvntare ct si un blestem. Folosirea lor nfeleapta ajuta campaniilor politice prin transformarea susfinatorilor pasivi n partizani activi. Dar folosirea lor mai pufin chibzuita duce la critici publice, din partea mass media si a opozifiei.

Media generata de utilizatori (UGM - user generated media)

Companii mari ca Sony, Mentos sau Toyota lasa friele promovarii si comunicarii din maini si acorda controlul mesajului consumatorilorntr-unefortfara precedent de a depasi stadiul spoturilor de publicitate de 30 de secunde. Aceste companii au credinfa ca raspunsul se gasesten media generata de utilizatori (user-generated media sau UGM). Dect sa cheltuiasca pe campanil de televiziune sau publicitate printata (banner, flyer, poster), multe companii investescn campanil de marketing produse de consumatori. Cel mai elocvent exemplu este alaturarea produselor Diet Coke si Mentos ntr-un video viral, care a devenit un fenomen de marketing. n iunie 2006, un avocat, Stephen Voltz, si un jongler profesionist, Fritz Globe, au nregistrat un film de 3 minute cu o sticla de Diet Coke care erupe ca un vulcan cnd este introdusa o pastila de Mentos, dupa care l-au postat pe Internet. n doua luni de la postare, filmul a atrs milioane de spectator! si a genert zeci de milioane de dolari n publicitate prime-time, att pe Internet ct si n mass media, iar Voltz si Globe au ajuns celebritafi. (Geist, 2005) Aceasta este media generata de utilizatori si se poate ca ea sa schimbe marketingul. Asa cum Jay Rosen serie n cartea sa "Oamenii cunoscufi n trecut ca public" (The People Formerly Known as the Audience): "exista o noua balanfa a puterii ntre voi si noi" (Rosen, 2006). Acesta balanfa nu este despre pasivitate. Este despre interacfiune si participare. 8

Oamenii devin produeatori, ceea ce i face sa intre n contact eu un brand sau o gama de produse mai mult dect atunci cnd erau doar public finta pasiv. Este si mai ieftin dect sa angajezi o agenfie de publicitate si sa platesti costuri de produefie. Conform scriitorului Ulises Mejias, UGM are abilitatea de a transforma ideile n acfiuni (Mejias, 2006). n loc sa se gndeasca la produs, consumatori! fac ceva eu produsul. Participarea se traduce n crestere. n august 2006, compania Nielson/NetRatings a raportat ca cinci din primele zece cele mai mari cresteri aie brandurilor pe internet si focuseaza atenfia catre media generata de utilizatori prin postari de poze, de filmulefe si prin blogging (Bausch & Han, 2006). n 2006 era un trend, n 201 0 este o necesItate. Dar este media generata de utilizatori buna pentru politica? Partidele politice si campanule electorale oricum trebuie sa menfina o balanfa delicata. Politicienii trebuie sa spuna ceea ce cred, fara sa ndeparteze electoratul care ar putea sa nu fie de acord cu ei. ntrebarea este daca politicienii se pot ncrede n oamenii simpli, ca sa-i lase sa vorbeasca n numele lor? n mijlocul crizei financiare, cu resurse umane si financiare limitate, pot recurge politicienii la ncrederea oamenilor? Desi exista dovezi aie unor asemenea demersuri, politicienii au ncredere mai multa n publicitatea mass media dect n Internet. Decizia de a adopta media generata de utilizatori se face cu costuri. Dar cnd este folosita cum trebuie, aceasta media are abilitatea de a atrage grupuri de susfinatori, care vor raspandi mesajele create de utilizatori catre un numar mare de refele si de a convinge segmente de electorat, la care politicienii nici nu visau sa ajunga. Se poate crea participare civica, genera donafii voluntare, creste activismul susfinatori lor, extinde popularitatea programului electoral, numele partidului sau al candidatului lasand oamenii simpli sa creeze o Campanie media? n Romania nu exista studii despre efectele potenfiale ale mediei generate de utilizatori asupra organizafiilor politice. Un lucru este sigurnsa. Interactivitatea cu "produsul" politic, care este de fapt programul electoral, mesajul, creeaza o legatura ntre utilizatori si organizafia politica. Oamenii se simt mai aproape de politicien! si sunt mai pufin susceptibili n a fi amagifi de mesajul politic. (Kalehoff, 2006) Este adevarat ca politica difera de mediul de afaceri, dar rezultatul final al unei campami de UGM este acelasi: ca oamenii sa intre n acfiune. UGM nseamna participare. Oamenii intra n acfiune doar alegnd un politician sau altul. De-a lungul procesului, utilizatorii vor dezvolta o relafie cu politicianul ales, care va duce la o prezenfa mai mare la vot, la acfiuni de voluntariat si la donafii pentru Campanie. 9

ntrebarea care se pune este daca politicianul si lasa o parte din Campanie pe mna susfinatorilor, acestia se vor conforma mesajului, sau vor distruge credibilitatea politicianului? Raspunsul la aceasta ntrebare depinde de politicien! si de regulile pe care acestia le fixeaza pentru comunitatea de susfinatori. Cateodata aceste reguli sunt scrise si postate pe site. Cateodata apar ca raspuns al unor in if iati ve ofensive mpotriva site-ului si implicit a comunitafii de susfinatori. Regulile nu sunt neaparat ngraditoare discursului liber. Au existt cazuri n care unele forumuri, care nu au mecanisme de a nlatura postari si de a bloca utilizatori ostili, au ramas far utilizatori (Shirky, 2003). Un set de reguli bine stabilite pot sa ajute o crestere sustenabila a comunitafii, nu sa ngradeasca dezvoltarea ei. Indiferent daca un politician posteaza un set de reguli pentru comunitatea sa, sau lasa standardele de comportament sa evolueze de la sine odata cu cresterea comunitafii, faptul ca el permite comunitafii sale de susfinatori de a spune ce cred despre programul sau politic va creste ncrederea ambelor parfi. Acest element de ncredere funcfioneaza n ambele direcfii. Susfinatorii se vor simfi de ncredere, ca buni membri ai comunitafii si pe langa tate acestea ramane ceea ce ei au produs: postarile pe bloguri, email-uri, animafii, filme. Se vor economisi bani astfel? Este foarte probabil ca da. Costuri le de producfie sunt nule. n plus oamenii mprastie materialele virale gratis. Materialele virale produse de susfinatori se vor mprastia pe Internet n funcfie de confinutul lor si de abilitatea de a emofiona si interacfiona imediatcu spectatorul. Daca un material UGM are aceste trei caracteristici atunci se va mprastia cu repeziciune pe bloguri si refele sociale. UGM nu trebuie gnditca o reclama. Daca este amuzant si prinde la public, acesta va atinge toate segmentele, de la cei ajunsi la maturitate si pana la elevii de liceu, care nca nu au dreptde vot. Producatorii-utilizatori iau o imagine, un clip, o terna abordata, un dialog spumos, chiar si numai sunetul de pe o nregistrare media si o reinterpreteaza. Chiar daca mulji ar putea spune ca reproducerea de imagini si vorbe aie unor politicieni este o violare de drepturi, cei care posteaza materialele initiale pe Internet stiu ca acestea pot fi reproduse. Binenfeles ca staff-ul de Campanie nu trebuie sa caute materiale reproduse pe Internet si sa le posteze pe cele favorabile pe site-ul propriu, ca si cum ar fi produse de staff. Staff-ul de Campanie poate sa-l contacteze pe producator pentru permisiunea de a posta producia pe site-ul de Campanie. Daca producatorul este flatat de acest lucru, el ar putea produce n continuare pentru acel politician si astfel o fidelizare a utilizatori I or duce la o constata a materialelor virale, postate pe site-ul de Campanie.

10

Printre susfinatorii unui politician se pot numara designen profesion isti, regizori sau seri itori. Ei ar putea produce materiale profesioniste ca si hobby. Acestia trebuie ncurajaji si vabrificaji. Dar n nici un caz nu trebuie trecuji cu vederea. Daca un politician si doreste ca media generata de utilizatori sa fie o parte substanciala din strategia de marketing, strategia de strngere de fonduri si n fine strategia politica, atunci politicianul trebuie sa imparta o parte din expertiza sa cu acesti susfinatori. Ei trebuie ndrumafi cum sa faca citizen journalism, ce imagini sunt cele mai atragatoare pentru o Campanie de strngere de fonduri si cum sa editezi si sa postezi un film de Campanie bun. De asemenea este important ca acesti experji sa fie mtrefinufi cu ultimele generaci de aparatura tehnica pentru a realiza materiale virale la standardele actuale. Ce se ntmpla cu reclmele profesioniste de 30 de secunde care apar n mass media? Au eie loc pe site-ul de Campanie sau pe paginile refelelor sociale? Se pare ca ele nu funcjioneaza foarte bine online. Utilizatori lor tinde sa Ie placa filmele n care sa vada sentimente ale politicienilor, aefiuni needitate, interacjiunea cu electoratul si evident umor. De asemenea o parte din resursele umane dedicate social media trebuie n permanenza sa monitorizeze si sa ndeparteze de pe site-ul de Campanie att conjinutul inadecvat si ofensiv la adresa candidatului, ct si mesajele spam. Dar ce va face un politician cnd contracandidajii lanseaza UGM mpotriva sa? Raspunsul scurt: nimic! Traim n era telefoanebr mobile cu nregistrare video si a blogurilor cu postari zilnice. Realitatea este ca cei care creeaza media online simt ca orice aefiune publica, greseala, gafa de vorbire sau text scris trebuie vazuta sau auzita de toata comunitatea online. Vestea buna este ca acest mediu i trage Ia raspundere pe politicieni. Vestea proasta este ca fiecare politician are adversari care pot crea filme sau mashup-uri pentru a le posta online exact n acest moment. Iar a face din tnjar armasarn aceasta privinja nu va face altceva dect sa provoace mai multa publicitate negativa politicianului finta. Includerea de UGM ntr-o strategie politica nu este o sarcina usoara. De fapt poate fi chiar mai costisitoare din punct de vedere al timpului dedicat, dect o Campanie clasica. Folosirea materialelor virale create de alji oameni cere vigilenfa si, mai important, cere o legatura directa cu susjinatori individuali. Acestia au nevoie de motivale pentru a crea si trebuie sa simta ca sunt apreciafi pentru contribupile lor. Dar daca e facut totul ca Ia carte, UGM va aduce candidatului sau organizap'ei politice avantaje nenumarate si poate chiar mandate nesperate.

11

Bibliografie

Swartz

J.,

(2008)

Social-networking

sites

going

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USA

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Facebook, (2009) Founder Bios, Press Room, http://www.facebook.com/press/ info.php?founderbios=

Facebook,

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Statistics,

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info.php?founderbios=#/press/info.php?statistics

Cashmore P., (2006) My Space, America's number one, Mashable - The Social Media Guide, http://mashable.eom/2006/07/1 1/myspace-americas-number-one/

Techtree,

(2008)

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Fastest

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News, 34-

http://www.techtree.com/lndia/News/Facebook_Largest_Fastest_Growing_Social_ 643.html

Network/551-921

Delany C, (2008) Online Politics 101, ePolitics, http://www.epolitics.com/onlinepolitics101.pdf

Geist

M.,

(2005)

Video

and

the

net:

an

explosive

mix,

BBC

News,

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2/hi/technobgy/5188482.stm

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(2006)

The

people

formerly

known

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the

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journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/06/27/ppl_frmr.html

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the

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Bausch S., Han L., (2006) User-generated content drives half of US top 10 fastest growing web brands, Nielsen/NetRatings, http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/PR_060810.PDF

Kalehoff M.,

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writings/group_politics.html

MULTUMIRI

Aceasta lucrare este susp'nuta de Programul Operational Sectorial de Dezvoltarea Resursebr Umane (POS DRU), finant din Fondul Social European si de catre Guvernul roman n conformitate cu numarul de contract POSDRU/6/1.5/S/6.

Social media - a political marketing tool

Ovidiu TIEREAN

Transilvania University, Brasov

Abstract 13

The article is structured into three parts: social networks, social media and user generated media. The article is like a refernce book for politicians in their atempt to become more visible in the viral medium. The first section presents the major social network sites and advice to comicate using social networks. The second section explaines the variety of social media and the risks that politicians may take when adopting social media. The last section presents user generated media and the advantages and disadantages that come along.

Keywords: social network, user generated media, candidates.

Introduction

Know-a-days many political campaigns are experimenting new methods of sending messages and to reach to undecided voters and to motivate volun-teers. What should campaign consultants and candidates keep in mind concerning new media? What strategies are working? What might destroy a candidate's reputation? These are the questions that this article is trying to answer.

For starters, three basic ways to use the "social media" con-cept will be analysed. First, the political campaign can work with existing social networking sites such Facebook (facebook.com) or Hi5 (hi5.com) to send messages to a new audience. Secondly, the candidate's staff builds social networking tools into their own campaign's Web site to motivate existing supporters. Thirdly, the candidate can take advantage of the broader world of user-created content to help turn casual sup-porters into passionate activists.

Social networks

Social networking sites can be a good way to send messages to a new audience, though for most political campaigns, these sites will supplement rather than substitute for an actual Web site.

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Let's begin at the beginning: just what are social networking sites? Social networking Web sites are designed to al-low people and organizations to set up profile pages and link to other profile pages. Profile pages work on the "circle of friends" model. Presumably most networks of connected "friends" have some pre-existing basis in the real world, though they usu-ally quickly grow beyond that initial nucleus.

Users can follow links from one profile to an-other out of curiosity or to look for friends, relatives, customers and supporters. Usually, they can also search by keyword and leave comments on profiles. Getting friends is as easy as going to a profile and requesting a connection. Really aggressive users amass thousands of friends, most of whom they have never met in person. Social networking sites can function as mass communications tools when us-ers send messages to their friends all at once.

Hi5, Facebook and MySpace (myspace.com) are the most well-known social networks in Romania in this order, by internationally speaking, the order is this: Facebook, MySpace and Hi5. Hi5 is the most well-known social network site in Romania. It was founded in 2003 by Ramu Yalamanci, an Indian computer science student at Illinois University. In January 2009, Hi5 had 60 million users, being ranked 38th in the Alexa (alexa.com) top concerning unique daily sign-in. (Swartz, 2008)

Facebook is the most well-known social networking site in the world, being ranked second after Google by Alexa in the top concerning unique sign-in. This site was founded by Mark Zucherberg and his room mates at Harvard and initially was designed to ease the communication among university colleagues (Facebook, 2009). Today, the site has 300 million active users, out of which 50% log on to their profile daily. Consumption figures for Facebook users are really impressive:

* On average, users have 1 30 friends

* More than 6 billion minutes are spent every day on Facebook

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* More than 40 million users upgrade their profiles daily

* More than 10 million users become fans of Facebook applications daily

* About 2 billion pictures and 14 million videos are uploaded on Facebook every month

* About 2 billion pieces of user-generated content are uploaded every week (web links, news, blog posts, journals and pictures)

* About 45 million groups of friends organize 3 million events that are promoted on Facebook every month.

Facebook content is being translated into 68 languages because 70% of users are outside of the United States. The estimated revenues for the year 2008 are 300 million USD. (Facebook, 2009)

MySpace became the most well-known social network site in the United States in June 2006 (Cashmore, 2006). According to comScore (comscore.com) site, Facebook exceeded MySpace as unique monthly visitors in April 2008 (Techtree, 2008). MySpace has about 100 million users and ranks 11 in Alexa top for unique daily sign-in. The content of the site is being translated into 15 languages, but Romanian is not one of them.

Since setting up a profile on any of the social network sites is such quick and easy and the sites reach such broad audiences, many advocacy organiza-tions and corporations are experimenting with the new medium. Social networking site users are young, so the sites are particularly good tools for campaigns trying to reach high school or college students and recent graduates.

Social network pages also automatically include a blog function, so social networks encourage in their own way blogging, if users don't already have set up a stand-alone blog on a blogging platform. Technorati 16

(technorati.com), the most important blog search engine, now indexes even the social network blogs, so today all blogs are inter-connected into the world blogosphere.

Often, personal pages are simply "bro-chureware" of users, an online business card and thus a chance for politicians to get their name across a list of po-tential supporters. To increase their visibility online, politicians have to add links to their individual campaign sites or to sites that provide more information about each of your issues. It's indicated to have a link to "join my e-mail list" and a "donate" button either.

The design of the personal page is really important. Many personal pages are garish and are welcoming readers with sound and flashing graphics that shock at first sight. Some profiles are so crowded-up that they're almost impossible to read their content. It's preferable that politicians shall use pictures or other graphics to illustrate their links and to emphasize their issues.

Like so many other pieces of the online strategy puzzle, the results from social networking sites generally depend on how much effort is expended: if politicians simply post content on their personal page and wait for people to come, they're likely to have very few visitors. Here is some advice on how to boost the number of profile views:

* Be aggressive - successful social network based campaigns will find lots of supporters. For inexperienced insocial networking politicians is important to visit group profiles devoted to similar issues that the politician raised and ask to become a member of the group. Also it's preferable that the politician shall develop direct relationships with that profile's friends. The more pro-files a politician's link appears on, the more chances are that his/her visibility in that social network will rise.

* Use social networks to promote campaign action alerts - politicians can send mass messages out to all of his/her friends and also post a link of the content of the message on his/her personal page. It's very likely that profile readers to sign up as activists on the main campaign site if the politician presents them with a spe-cific actions to take. 17

* Ask your friends to post your alert on their sites - if campaign issues that politicians raise are of interest, then the friends will be eager to help the politician raise awareness on the issue discussed. Plus, it gives the friends some interest-ing content for their own personal page.

* Send information to your friends of-ten - social networks readers are constantly bombarded with messages, so politicians don't have to worry so much about wearing their friends out form spam. List exhaustion doesn't seem to be as much of a problem with social networking sites as it is with the e-mail industry, so politicians can send out reminding messages periodically outside campaigns and targeted messages during campaigns.

A few other things to keep in mind:

* Social network users are grouped in small and heterogeneous segments and many people use social networks for dating and self-promotion. Politicians may end up with some "friends" that are less conventional and have to prepare themselves to deal with strange friends requests. This consideration is more important for a candidate's campaign than for an advocacy cam-paign. It's easy to imagine what the opposi-tion might say if it would find among a candidate's friends someone with pictures and comments that would embarrass the candidate. The dominant strategy is to accept all friends' requests, but the staff that deals with social networks organizing must be trained how to behave with uncomfortably friends' requests. Also the speaker for the candidate, for a politician or for a political party will have to face attacks from mass media and opposition.

* Friends tend to build exponentially - the more visitors see a personal page, the more users will want to link to that personal page, so it's desirable that, from the beginning, politicians and political parties should have friends with lots of friends. If there are mass messages from e-mail lists or newsletter options available on the main campaign site or the candidate's personal site (other than personal pages within social networks), then they should be mentioned in the personal pages within social networks. People in those lists must be invited to become friends with the politician. The stron-ger the initial base, the faster the growth.

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* As with every other active web site, personal pages from social networks have to be kept up to date and updated with fresh information. There's this concern among politicians of not having enough time to upgrade their personal profiles. One trick used by politicians in the United States is to use RSS feeds from the main campaign site to daily upgrade their personal profiles on social network sites. Social network pages block JavaScript, which is the usual tool to display a feed from sites outside the social network, but computer science specialists have built applications that convert a feed headline into images, which then can be uploaded on social network sites. At a simple search on Google on how to post RSS feeds into social network sites, one may find free and intuitive-to-use applications.

* Also it's important that those who handle the candidate's personal page on social networks should not be picked out as random teenagers, just because they're young and they're "good at it". A personal page on a social network is just as important as the main web site is, and it must deliver the campaign message. That's why it needs to be integrated in the overall communications strat-egy.

Another way to employ social networking tools is to integrate them directly into the main cam-paign site by allowing supporters to create personal profile pages on the campaign site. The obvious benefit is that users will create a personal link with the candidate or the party: if they have pages on the main campaign site and will visit them regularly, they're more likely to identify with the candidate's campaign and become volunteers involved with it. With prompting and encouraging messages, they're also likely to ag-gressively reach out to friends and family and increase the awareness of the campaign site. Also, social networking tools can help campaign supporters to self-organize and work with each other to promote the campaign.

The potential downside is the same as with using campaign blogs, all users will be putting content on the candidate's site, and those who handle the site will have limited control over the content. Communications professionals know how to control a political campaign's message and it can be very difficult for them to drop the reins of the campaign and leave it in the hands of users that are amateurs in communication skills.

A second problem derives from the smaller scale of most campaigns. Facebook and Hi5 depend on the "network effect": the sites become more useful as more people sign up. Social networking applica-tions used on 19

main campaign sites work only if they have a critical mass of users, but political campaign sites simply don't attract that many online users. By raising a infamous number of users, a candidate creates negative publicity upon himself. This negative publicity is to be avoided in a public communication environment such as the internet through a failure in using social network applications on the campaign site.

Despite the potential disadvantages, campaign sites and corporation sites alike are experimenting with their own social networking applications. Such an experiment was done by the Washington Post (washingtonpost.com). On the site, readers can leave comments on all news stories, starting with gossip stories and expanding to delicate political coverage, after the editors are sure that the content filtering mechanism works. Next, the site en-cou raged readers to create profile pages that gathered all comments made by reader in a central place. Thus every reader becomes an author himself/herself! Not only did this tie the strong link between the user and the site, but gives users an incentive to spread the word about their own creations and draw more people to read the original articles. Turning read-ers into both passionate authors and aggressive marketers is an example to be followed by any organisations, even political ones.

Social media

Next, I say we move foreword and expand the view at the wider world of social media. What are we talking about? Social media is a broader concept than so-cial networking: this concept refers to content cre-ated by site users rather than by a central person or groups specialized in communication of any kind. Two eloquent examples in this matter are YouTube (youtube.com) and Wikipedia (wikipedia.org), as there are all blogs that allow posting of comments. Besides the obvi-ous example of political blogs, how can political campaigns use social media?

Anytime politicians open themselves to user-gener-ated content, they take certain risks. Many professionals in political campaigns will have a very hard time ac-cepting the concept because too many campaigns have been ruined in the past by a candidate or candidate's staffer that have divulged information to third parties. That is why political consultants are accustomed to the fact that informa-tion that goes to mass media and the public needs to be carefully undergo a process of filtration. 20

If a campaign is going to use social media, the security of information is essential: user generated content must be filtered and approved by communication specialists before the public can access it on the website. To keep from angering the authors, the staff appointed to watch social networks need to approve or disapprove a large number of items and comments quickly. Users will get frustrated if their does not appear on the website shortly. If a piece of content or an article does not pass censorship and it's blocked, the staff has to make sure to contact the author who made it and explain why a decision to block the content was taken.

That being said, allowing members or users to generate content has some real strengths as a tac-tic. For the beginning, the use of social media allows the capture the brainpower and ideas of far more people than any politician could reasonably hire - you may say that a politician uses the collective intelligence of a small share of the Internet community. Most of the ideas will not be useful at all, but occasionally some post and comments prove to be sparks that can lead to explosions of popularity and awareness.

As an example, in the summer of 2006, the Ned Lamont campaign for senator in Connecticut made great use of user-generated video. Lamont supporters recorded clips of opponent Joe Lieberman's appearances and uploaded them to the Lamont site. Minor gaffes that would have passed unnoticed in the past were thus kept for all the visitors of the site to enjoy and those behind the cameras felt that they really were an essen-tial part of the campaign. Lamont supporters went even further and used the footage into their own advertisements posted then online.

But the social media sword can have two sharp edges: for the Lamont campaign, social media meant trouble as well when a supportive blogger posted a doctored photo of Lieberman wearing blackface. The lady in matter intended the photo as a satire of the intention of Lieberman to reach out to black population votes, but it backfired: Lieberman's campaign staff reacted and Lamont was forced to publicly disavow his implication in this matter. In the end Lamont won the election, but he had to give lots of explication and he endangered the votes of the black population (Delany, 2008).

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As we've seen, social networking and social me-dia can be both a blessing and a curse. Their wise use can help political campaigns by turning passive supporters into active partisans. But an unwise use of them might just lead to public criticism coming from mass media and opposition.

User generated media (UGM)

Large companies like Sony, Mentos and Toyota are loosening the reigns of promotion and communication and are giv-ing customers control of their message in an effort to move beyond the concept of the same old 30second advertis-ing spots. These companies think they have the answer in something called user-generated media (short UGM). Instead of spending money on television campaigns and print advertising spots (banners, flyers, posters), many companies are investing in marketing campaigns produced by consumers.

The most eloquent example is the pairing of Diet Coke and Mentos in a viral web video that became a marketing phenomenon. In June 2006, a lawyer, Stephen Voltz, and a professional juggler, Fritz Globe, created a three-minute web video of Diet Coke bottles fizzing up like volcanoes when they tossed Mentos candies into them. They posted their video on the Internet. Within two months, it attracted millions of viewers and generated tens of millions of dollars in free, prime-time advertisements on the Internet and in mass media. Voltz and Globe became celebrities. (Geist, 2005)

This is called user-generated media (UGM), and it might as well change marketing. As Jay Rosen writes in his book "The People Formerly Known as the Audience": "There's a new balance of power between you and us" (Rosen, 2006). This balance is not about passivity. It's about interaction and participation.

The people become the producers, which allows them to engage with a brand or product line more than when they remained a passive audience. It's cheaper than hiring an advertisement agency and paying production costs. According to writer Ulises Mejias, UGM has the ability to translate ideas into action. (Mejias, 2006)

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Instead of just thinking about a prod-uct, consumers do something with the product. Participation translates into growth. In August 2006, Nielson//NetRatings reported that five out of the top ten fastest-growing web brands focused on user-generated media such as photo-sharing, video-sharing and blogging (Bausch & Han, 2006). In 2006 it was a trend, in 2010 it's a necessity. But is user-generated media good for politics?

Political groups and campaigns already engage in a difficult balancing act. Politicians have to say what we really think without driving away some voters who that might not agree with them. The question is if politicians can trust ordinary people to speak on their behalf. In the middle of a financial crisis, with limited human resources and financial resources, can politicians leave themselves to people trust? Even though there is some evidence to the contrary, politicians still trust mass media advertising more than the Internet.

The decision to adopt user-generated media brings some costs. But when used appropriately, this king of media has the ability to en-gage groups of supporters, who will share the messages created by users with a great number of networks and to convince segments of voters that politicians weren't even dreaming to reach.

Can civic participation be improved, can more donations be generated, can activism of sup-porters be increased, can the popularity of a political program, name of an organization and candidate be expanded by allowing normal, every-day people to create a media campaign?

In Romania there are no studies whatsoever about the potential effects of user-generated content on po-litical organizations. However one thing is for sure. The interactivity with the political "product", whish is in fact the political program, the message creates a link between users and the political organization. People feel closer to politicians and they become less susceptible to being seduced by political messages. (Kalehoff, 2006)

It's true that politics differ from the business environment, but the end result of an UGM campaign is similar: people that take an action. UGM is participatory. People are already taking an action by engaging with one politician or the other. In the process, users will develop a relationship with the chosen politician that will lead to a higher turnout, volunteer actions and campaign donations. 23

The question raised is if a politician leaves a share of his/her campaign in the hands of his/her supporters, will these go along with the politician's message or will they destroy his/her credibility? The answer to this question depends upon politicians and the rules that they set for their com-munity of supporters. Sometimes these rules are written and posted on the site. Sometimes they emerge as offensive behaviour against the site and against the community of supporters as a consequence. Rules don't necessarily freedom of speech. There were situations in which forums that don't have any mechanism for eject-ing posts or block hostile users were left without users (Shirky, 2003). So a set of well established regulation can actually lead to sustainable growth of the community, not to stop its development.

Whether a politician decides to post a set of rules for his/her community or allows standards of behaviour to develop themselves as the community grows, the fact that he/ she allows his/her community of supporters to have a say on what they think about the political agenda, will increase trust between both sides. That element of trust works both ways. Supporters will feel like trusted, as valuable members of to community. And besides there's left what they produced: blog posts, emails, animations, videos.

Will money be saved? There's a good probability. Production costs are nextto nothing. And people spread viral messages free of charge. The viral materials produced by supporters will spread the Internet de-pending on its content and its ability both to appeal to emotion and interact with the immediate moment. If a UGM material contains each of these three things, then it is relatively easy for it to spread through blogs and social networks.

UGM doesn't have to be thought as a commercial. If it is funny and catchy, it has the ability to reach out to every segment, from grown-ups to high school students that don't have the right to vote yet. Producing users take an image, a video, an raised issue, a juicy dialogue or just the sound from a media recording and they interpret it in their own way. Even though many would say that reinterpreting images and words of certain politicians is a violation of rights, those who post the initial materials on the Internet know that some-one else will reuse it.

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However, one's campaign staff should search the Internet for reused materials and post the favourable ones on their main site as your own creation. The campaign staff can contact the producer for his/her permission to post his/her production on the main campaign site. If the producer is flattered by this kind of request, he/she might produce again for that politician. This kind of trustworthiness of users leads to a constant viral materials postage on the main campaign site.

Among the supporters of a politician there may be professional designers, film directors or writers. They may produce professional-quality work as a hobby. They need to be encouraged and valued. But under no circumstance they cannot be left behind. If a politician wants consumer-generated media to be a substantial part of his/ her marketing strategy, fundraising strategy or political strategy, then he/she must consider sharing some of his/her expertise with these supporters. They need to be taught how to conduct citizen journalism, what types of images are most appeal-ing for a fundraising campaign and how to edit and post a good campaign video. Also it's important that these experts to be equipped with the latest generation of technical hardware to create viral content at today's standards.

What happens with the 30 seconds professional advertisements that show up in mass media? Do they fit on the main campaign site or on social network sites? It seems that they do not work that good online. Users tend to like footage that shows real emotion of politicians, unedited action, interaction with voters, and of course humour.

Also a part of the human resources dedicated to social media need to permanently monitor and remove from the main campaign site the inadequate an offensive content directed upon the candidate as well as spam messages.

But what can a politician do when challenging politicians launch UGM against him/her? The short answer: nothing! We live in an era of video mobile phones and daily posts blogs. The re-ality is that those people who create online media feel that any public action, mistake, gaffe, speech, or piece of writing is needs to be seen and heard by the whole online community. The good news is that this environment is holding politicians accountable. The bad news is that every politician has challengers that create videos or mash-ups to post them

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online right this very moment. And making a big deal about it won't do anything but create more negative publicity around the targeted politician.

Incorporating UGM into the political strategy is not an easy task. In fact, it may be more time-consuming than a classic campaign can prove to be. Us-ing other people's viral content takes vigilance, but more importantly, it requires a direct link to individual supporters. These people need a motivation to create and they need to feel that they are appreciated for their contributions. But if everything is done by the book, it will bring countless advantages and even hopeless mandates to both candidates and political parties.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper is supported by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development (SOP HRD), financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian Government under the contract number POSDRU/6/1.5/S 27