European elections in the Italian web sphere: campaigning 2.0?

This article investigates the use of web 2.0 during the European elections campaign in Italy. The research was articulated in two phases: an analysis of candidates’ websites and use of web 2.0 tools, on the one hand, and the monitoring of the campaign within social media (Facebook and YouTube). Though a persisting divide exists in the distribution of parties and coalitions online, most candidates who have a personal website have integrated web 2.0 tools. It is seemingly a strategic appropriation and adaptation of web 2.0, resulting in a hybrid communication model, in between 1.0 and 2.0. The campaigning activity on social media, instead, seems innovative insofar as it enables a re- embedding and re-localization of previously centralized and nationally coordinated campaigns.