I am now working on a quantitative research paper analyzing the level of web activism by the candidates in the 2008 Belarusian Parliamentarian election. No surprises here. If you envision “Internet revolution” in Belarus, you’ll need to wait a bit longer. The digital divide is still too wide for it to happen.

The Internet usage in Belarus as reported by both domestic and international organizations is rather high. According to different estimates, 30%-57% Belarusians use Internet. Remarkably, the respected source on worldwide statistical data, CIA World Book, and a bookmark link for international Internet statistics, the International Telecommunication Union, estimate that around 6 million people use Internet in Belarus. Sorry, guys, I believe these numbers are total crap…

Unable to validate these numbers, I have attempted to analyze the Web presence of parliamentary candidates in the 2008 Parliamentary election. The presence was low. The ADS candidates were more personally active online than the rest. Party affiliation, and sometimes belonging to the top ranks of the regional executives and enterprises provided some web presence to those candidates who did not personally campaign online. The regional divide and generation gap was also noteworthy as far as personal input to web campaigning was concerned.

As I progress with my research of this issue, I might share some of my findings. SPSS rules, math sucks o_O