Saturday, March 24, 2007

Internet and Politics

Politics are a crucial part of life and they affect the lives of everybody in the world. There are different types of political parties and beliefs, but perhaps what is most interesting is, how people involve themselves with politics as history progresses. Now that we are in an age where the internet is an integral part of life, people have incorporated politics into its ever-growing web. There is a plethora of information regarding politics online. People involve themselves with the political system now in many ways…be it blogs, forums or online chats. Communication technologies such as these enable people to share their thoughts with the rest of the world. Those who never thought much of politics or had any care about them are finding themselves surrounded by it once they log on to the internet. When a person logs onto a website like youtube.com, political videos can often be seen in the most popular videos of the day section. Furthermore, when they click on that video, they will see a barrage of comments discussing the political topic at hand. These comments can be, and often are offensive and controversial to others. The point of these comments however, is to allow people to engage in politics. It is easier now than ever before because the internet is so accessible to everyone.

The following is an example of how people express their thoughts (in this case, political) through blogging. Michael Rebmann is a graduate from Erie Community College and he has recently set up a blog by the name of North Buffalo Journal and Review. Its URL is http://nbjr.speakupwny.com/. He is a citizen blogger, interested in Paralegal Studies. He started his blog about politics and life on March 3rd, 2007 because, after posting comments on other peoples’ blogs for some time, he decided he wanted one of his own (http://nbjr.speakupwny.com/about_me/). His rank on technorati is 47,636. After skimming through Rebmann’s blog, one could tell that he is very opinionated about specific political issues. He has strong support for 2008 presidential candidate, Ron Paul and he cares about the local conditions in Buffalo, New York. He takes full advantage of the blogs’ features and he has many links to sites that he thinks other people may find interesting. It is all organized in a nice, coherent manner and this makes things easy for other bloggers to read and participate in. Since Rebmann has only recently made a new blog, he does not have a huge following of bloggers yet. However, as time passes by and more people link to his blog, his online reputation will go up and consequently attract more readers. Once this occurs he can further engage in political discussion in this particular online community.

A common question that people ask today is “how are blogs affecting local politics?” I would have to say that blogs are affecting local politics tremendously. It is so easy to write an article online and advertise it to the masses. Look how easy it was for me to find Michael Rebmann’s article online and learn about his political beliefs. He is trying to educate others about Congressman Ron Paul and encourage them to vote for him in the next presidential election. The same can apply for local politicians. Alinta Thornton states, “One of the most distinctive features of the Internet as a medium is its interactivity” (Thornton 37). One could argue that people are as interactive online as they are in real life. This increased interaction encourages others to share their beliefs. When people learn about other people’s opinions they can either agree or disagree with them. In the political world an agreement could mean another vote for a potential candidate.

Politics and the internet today essentially go hand in hand. The amount of information shared and the interaction among people online is almost overwhelming. However, it is a step closer towards educating the world about other’s beliefs and ideas. In this particular case, the interaction increases political involvement and consequently affects the way in which people live their lives.

References

Rebmann, Michael. (2007). North Buffalo Journal and Review. Retrieved March 24, 2007, from http://nbjr.speakupwny.com/.

Thornton, Alinta. (October, 2002). Does Internet Create Democracy. Retrieved March 24, 2007, from http://www.zip.com.au/~athornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc.

1 comment:

gary said...

Good points. I'd say that the internet is the best thing that's happened to the cause of democracy in a LONG time.

www.ExpertVoter.org

I'm more optimistic about politics than ever before.

gary