Ramping up the election campaign in cyberspace, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday launched his blog at his campaign headquarters, seeking support from younger people by showcasing his municipal achievements using Google Maps, while replying to city residents’ questions online.
The site’s Google Maps feature allows netizens to search for municipal projects, such as 12 sports centers and the exhibition sites for the Taipei Flora Expo.
It also features Hau’s family life and promotes his campaign manifesto using animation.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Seeking to enhance interaction with city residents through the online platform, Hau addressed municipal issues and answered questions and suggestions on the blog, a feature that had already been adopted by his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) when he launched his campaign Web site about a month ago.
Hau denied taking ideas from Su on blog content and added that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also addressed national issues and public concerns through his weekly online speeches, which can be found on the Presidential Office’s Web site.
“There was no stealing of ideas, as many politicians have used a similar approach to communicate with the public. We are hoping that the public will understand my achievements in the past three years and know more about me through the blog,” he said.
Cyberspace has become the latest platform for the Taipei mayoral election. Hau and Su have both set up accounts on Facebook and Plurk, a local microblogging service similar to Twitter, where they address municipal issues and spar.
Su seemed to have taken the lead in the online campaign battle, setting up Facebook and Plurk accounts earlier than Hau.
He also has a personal blog, which he set up six years ago, before launching the campaign Web site a month ago.
The DPP candidate said that aside from communicating with netizens, he also used the online platforms to monitor Hau’s municipal policies.
Hau said he welcomed all kinds of comments and suggestions and promised to offer quick responses online.
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