Politicians are well-versed in online public relations, and Web pages abound at election time. Online saves public affairs and community relations professionals hours of time in tracking critical issues. Online can serve as a coordinating knowledge base for campaign workers and a means to maintain contact with them although they are dispersed.
Candidates know that it is as easy to publish a newsletter online as it is to print and mail it.
Online allows immediate news coverage that traditional newsletters cannot handle, and online serves as a media source for information and story ideas. Lobbying via e-mail to newsgroups to encourage response to governing bodies. Grassroots lobbying online existed even before the World Wide Web was invented. In the mid-1980s, French university students coordinated a national strike through the country's online system called Minitel. Groups from mainstream political parties to fringe activists are present online worldwide.