The use of hypertextuality, multimedia, interactivity and updating on the websites of Spanish political parties

Abstract

This work presents the results of a research aiming to analyze the presence of the four cardinal points of the cyberspace (hypertextuality, multimedia, interactivity and updating) in the Spanish political parties’ websites. These parameters determine the effectiveness of the communication in a web space, and until what extent political formations use them to connect with their audiences in the digital environment. To achieve this goal, an analysis of the content of the websites of the political groups with parliamentary representation has been carried out. The results confirm the absence of tools and resources related to these characteristics in the web spaces under study. The use of hypertext, beyond its simpler structure, and the use of multimedia elements is scarce. The possibilities of interaction between different users and political parties are minimal. The information published and the level of updating of the contents is insufficient. The conclusions allow us to affirm that there is a lack of exploitation of the possibilities offered by the web to promote communication and interaction with users by different political groups.