At the most base level, we can analyze use of the Reform Party web site by looking at the pattern of total use as it fluctuated throughout the campaign season (see Figure 2). Most noteworthy are the two high points of site usage -- August 12 and November 5. Throughout the election season, at least until November 5, the number of visitors to the site increased steadily, as did the average number of hits from each host. This indicates two trends. First, more users were seeking out political information as election day grew nearer. Second, those users were seeking more information than those who visited the site at an earlier point in time. In order to ascertain what information these users were seeking out at different time periods, it is necessary to compare the use of individual pages and sections, which we will look at below. However, the basic indication is that as the election drew nearer, voters became more interested in the process and sought to educate themselves more about their choices just before they had to go to the polls. This evidence seems to counter the argument that the election cycle is too long and voters are making their decisions well in advance of the election. While we do not know when Reform Party site visitors made their voting decisions, it is clear that they were still actively seeking more information, and in greater numbers, as the election drew nearer.

Convention Period

August 11 was the opening day of the Reform Party convention, and heralded a phenomenal increase in the use of the web site. Prior to that day, the site was averaging only 488 visits per day. On August 12 alone, the site received 5,144 front page hits, four times as many visitors than it had on any single day before the convention convened. It is not possible to determine how many of these hits were generated by Reform Party supporters using the site to keep on top of the convention proceedings and how many were simply seeking more information about the party. The week-long convention created the most web site usage on its first day, which suggests that many users became aware of the site for the first time as a result of the convention and related media coverage. While site usage continued to be relatively high during the entire week of the convention, on no day did it approach the number of hits or number of visitors on August 12.

Established Pattern

Between the Reform Party convention and election day, use of the site fell into a consistent pattern. As is the case with most web sites, there was a general weekly pattern, with use peaking each Tuesday and bottoming out each Saturday. Between the convention and election day this pattern was broken four times: Sunday October 6, Wednesday October 9, Thursday October 17, and Thursday October 24 each topped their respective weeks. The first three of these anomalous dates correspond with the televised presidential and vice-presidential debates. The top campaign news story of October 24 was that the Dole campaign had send Scott Reed to Texas to ask that Perot drop out of the race. This pattern indicates that many users were prompted to visit the Reform Party site to gain additional information on big news stories, rather than from a general interest in the party. Their use of this new resource was driven largely by events in the traditional media. After dropping off immediately after the convention period, site use increased steadily until election day (see Figure 2). As mentioned above, this pattern indicates an increasing interest in political information as election day drew nearer. During the period from the end of the convention until election day, the site received many more hits than it did either before the convention or after the election.

Election Day

November 5, the day after the election, was the second big day for the Reform Party web site. On this day the site logged more hits than any other day throughout the election cycle. However, it was visited by less users than it had been on the first days of the convention. This anomaly is partially the result of the increasing popularity of the site's chat rooms (see below). However, the fact that traffic increased the day after the election indicates that a substantial number of users were turning to the site for election news and information.