Considering the Relationship: Politics and New Media
It has been argued that the internet has become a medium of the people. With you tube, bloggs, and infinite access to information it is hard to perceive the internet as another medium subject to favoritism and a concentration of power. In fact bloggers have entered the political landscape in full force bringing credibility and significance to civilian voices. But despite these advantages this seemingly democratic medium may infact be marginalizing voices. Are political bloggs diversifying the political landscape as a way or are they too guilty of marginalization? Is this a truly democratic medium or just a counter to other biased voices? Consider the following issues:
Who are we hearing and what is the quality of deliberation?
We discussed an article that articulated the idea of the internet as primarily a liberal medium. As a result we can make the assumption that much of the discussion and opinion put forth on blogs and uploaded on you tube reflect the liberal positions of their source. Additionally, the ease of access also brings issues of credibility and compromises the quality of deliberation. Anonymity breeds incivility further compromising quality debate.
Who has Access to Initiate Discussion?
As a liberal medium we have to consider that many voices are marginalized. It is not merely an issue of conservative and liberal though. Class and gender gaps contribute to homogenized participation. As a result issues pertinent to these groups are put on the backburner.
What will it mean for politics and specifically the conservative audience in the future?
Barack Obama is proof that whoever can harness this medium has a distinct advantage in political campaigns. Thus we will start to see a political landscape dominated by liberals and democrats? If the internet continues to function as a liberal medium and continues to be the determining medium we may very well see conservatives struggle to maintain a presence in politics.
The internet has by all means revolutionized society and especially politics as evidence of this past election. I think it is our duty to consider these questions and as communication scholars consider the impact of this medium in shaping political communication.
Who are we hearing and what is the quality of deliberation?
We discussed an article that articulated the idea of the internet as primarily a liberal medium. As a result we can make the assumption that much of the discussion and opinion put forth on blogs and uploaded on you tube reflect the liberal positions of their source. Additionally, the ease of access also brings issues of credibility and compromises the quality of deliberation. Anonymity breeds incivility further compromising quality debate.
Who has Access to Initiate Discussion?
As a liberal medium we have to consider that many voices are marginalized. It is not merely an issue of conservative and liberal though. Class and gender gaps contribute to homogenized participation. As a result issues pertinent to these groups are put on the backburner.
What will it mean for politics and specifically the conservative audience in the future?
Barack Obama is proof that whoever can harness this medium has a distinct advantage in political campaigns. Thus we will start to see a political landscape dominated by liberals and democrats? If the internet continues to function as a liberal medium and continues to be the determining medium we may very well see conservatives struggle to maintain a presence in politics.
The internet has by all means revolutionized society and especially politics as evidence of this past election. I think it is our duty to consider these questions and as communication scholars consider the impact of this medium in shaping political communication.
posted by Mandy Thomson | 1:44 PM
6 Comments:
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I agree that the bogging revolution is impacting political election outcomes and the opinions of the people who read them. I think that this is a medium that is genuinely "of the people" and if the media continues to try to capitalize on blogging, it will lose it purity. Blogging will turn into just another for of advertising instead of being a way for the public to share ideas.
In this election it was made clear that blogging is influencing modern day politics. I feel as though it is important for more conservatives to participate in the new "blogging era" for future politics because I think it will allow for a more younger audience to gain a Republican insight and gain more young voters. I feel as though blogging was another strong aid in Obama's campaign.
I agree that the Internet has revolutionized political communication. It's important for politicians to keep up with this ever-changing technology, but I have to question where we draw the line.
The Internet is a medium of populistic deliberation and it's great that everyone can contribute to the conversation. At the same time, I thought you made an excellent point about the disparity between who uses it-- it's not just a disparity between liberals/conservatives, but between genders, races, and ages.
This is something that is going to have to be further looked into. Luckily, we now live in the Internet age, so as access becomes easier, technologically-minded voters mature and politicians become more technologically savvy, we'll see perhaps more open and more honest political communication.
I think that blogging has made a major impact on the world of politics. I know of many people that read blogs daily during this past campaign in order to hear various views on the presidential candidates. I feel as if Americans need to take advantage of these new forms of media in order to get all of the viewpoints and information they can and make an educated decision on who should be voted into office.
I also agree that political blogs are having a major influence on the way people vote. There are so many blogs available for anyone to read whenever they want to. One can find pretty much anything they are interested in on a political blog. However, I think we need to remember that there is still a large number of voters that do not have internet access; therefore, they are not affected by blogs. I know we often tend to forget about this other group because we are all so used to having internet access whenever we please, but we need to remember that they still make up a large percentage of the vote.
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