Does the internet effect voting?
The Internet had a huge effect when voters went to cast their vote in this year’s election. Whether the voter used the internet a lot or not at all, it still in some way had an effect. I tend to forget that thousands and thousands of people still do not have internet access. Just because we are fortunate enough to have it and even get frustrated when it is moving “slow,” not everyone in our country is that privileged. As I begin to think about this technological phenomenon, I realize that just as we are influenced by the words someone says on the television or radio, I believe we are even more influenced by the internet. There are millions of pages of information available for us to surf, and we can read or watch something time and time again, thus noticing something that we might not have paid much attention to had we been flipping through channels or browsing the newspaper.
With the speed of the web, it is very easy for someone to post something the second they have an opinion about an issue or something new in the election process has happened. You missed one of the debates? Well, just find it on the internet and watch it on your own time. Don’t know that much about a particular issue? You can search the candidate’s website or simply type in the name of your topic to google news and thousands of news-related articles will pop up. Someone without internet access is unfortunately cut off from many of these opportunities. As the days moving towards the election got closer and closer, those without internet access might not have caught all of the small occurrences they might have wanted to know about before making their final decision.
On the other hand, sometimes I think it might be more beneficial without the internet. I feel that without the internet, voters would have more of an opportunity to formulate their own opinions and not reword one that they read or heard online. Even though this is still possible to do from watching TV, reading the newspaper, or listening to the radio, the internet is the master medium because it gives its audience the ability to do all of these in one form of media, and the information is available at all times for as long as you want it or need it. In addition, people who typically do not use the internet will most likely not have to worry about their facts being inaccurate. Things they read about in the newspaper or hear on the television or radio are going to be accurate because they are coming from credible sources. When something is posted on the internet, yes, there are many credible sources such as The Washington Post or MSNBC.com, but there are also many other sites written by any common individual who wants to share their opinion, just as I am doing now, so one might often wonder where these “facts” are coming from if they can even be considered facts.
To sum it up, the internet has both advantages and disadvantages, and it can affect a voter in one of two ways. 1) Those with access have tons of information available at the tips of their fingertips 24 hours a day. 2) Those without the internet might not get caught up in the scrutinized information the media is critical about, and they will be able to formulate their own opinions without constantly being influenced by every page they surf on the web.
With the speed of the web, it is very easy for someone to post something the second they have an opinion about an issue or something new in the election process has happened. You missed one of the debates? Well, just find it on the internet and watch it on your own time. Don’t know that much about a particular issue? You can search the candidate’s website or simply type in the name of your topic to google news and thousands of news-related articles will pop up. Someone without internet access is unfortunately cut off from many of these opportunities. As the days moving towards the election got closer and closer, those without internet access might not have caught all of the small occurrences they might have wanted to know about before making their final decision.
On the other hand, sometimes I think it might be more beneficial without the internet. I feel that without the internet, voters would have more of an opportunity to formulate their own opinions and not reword one that they read or heard online. Even though this is still possible to do from watching TV, reading the newspaper, or listening to the radio, the internet is the master medium because it gives its audience the ability to do all of these in one form of media, and the information is available at all times for as long as you want it or need it. In addition, people who typically do not use the internet will most likely not have to worry about their facts being inaccurate. Things they read about in the newspaper or hear on the television or radio are going to be accurate because they are coming from credible sources. When something is posted on the internet, yes, there are many credible sources such as The Washington Post or MSNBC.com, but there are also many other sites written by any common individual who wants to share their opinion, just as I am doing now, so one might often wonder where these “facts” are coming from if they can even be considered facts.
To sum it up, the internet has both advantages and disadvantages, and it can affect a voter in one of two ways. 1) Those with access have tons of information available at the tips of their fingertips 24 hours a day. 2) Those without the internet might not get caught up in the scrutinized information the media is critical about, and they will be able to formulate their own opinions without constantly being influenced by every page they surf on the web.
posted by Jenny | 1:20 PM
6 Comments:
Learning more about the influence the internet has on politics, I thought about my own experience. Rarely did I ever pick up the newspaper to read about political information in the past months. I have visited the candidate's websites numerous times and have read information off of different websites. I find that using the internet is easy and fast. I do agree though that one has to be careful on where they find information because it is so easy to come across false information.
I think the internet has the benefit of convenience, like you mentioned. It's much easier to find info on your own time rather than on real time (personally, I was almost never able to catch a televised debate in its entirety-- I just watched it online the next day!)
I think the internet was a key component for those who had access to it during this presidential election. All information was readily available for anyone choosing to view it. The speed of the internet makes news stories, political blogs and footage of the debates accessible with the click of a button. Although the information might not be as accurate as another news source, such as a news program or a newspaper, more variations of political opinions can be seen. Americans, as you said, can also read up on the issues and what a particular candidate has to say in regards to it. I do not believe it would be beneficial to not use the internet in a political campaign and I think that people are able to formulate their opinions in a more educated way through the internet. News sources cover what they want and apply a media filter to almost all the information that comes through them. However, this same information can be found on the internet as well as million of other pieces covering a particular candidate or issue. Due to this, people are better able to understand the issues and seek opinions by anyone from a blogger to political news analyst. This will make for a more informed opinion, as they are able to get a better understanding of the topic at hand and both sides of that issue. The internet is a very powerful tool to a political campaign and even though it might not always serve to have the most accurate of discussions on one site, it still offers millions more to surf through and learn from.
I barely even know how to use the internet. I can use the social networking groups and google and that is about it and rarely going on the internet--I saw so many political advertisements everywhere. Since Obama was more active in using the internet, I did see many more ads for him than for McCain.
I think the internet can corrupt information, but at the same time, it can give you a closer look. I think youtube has changed the way people look at Sarah Palin. On youtube is a side by side video of Tina Fey on SNL and Sarah Palin during an interview. The answer Tina Fey gives to a question in a skit on the show sounds ridiculous and does not make any sense, however the side by side view shows that that is EXACTLY what Sarah Palin said as an answer in a real life interview.
Some internet sites can corrupt politics by forming lies, but some parts of the internet can show you how true political candidates really are.
I saw on the Daily Show today that the New York Times took out another mortgage on their Manhattan building citing hard economic times and decline in readership due to the internet. Part of me is lamenting the decline of newspapers. Even though I only pickup a news paper once every other week I see the newspapers as an American institution yes, I know they are global...but there is such a nostalgia surrounding the old muckrakers and political cartoonists (hello they gave us Dr. Seuss!) Anyway I think we are really in a revolutionary period...perhaps bloggers could be considered the new "muckrakers" and we will see the rise of a new institution.
So I will finish the joke Stewart was getting at with this story, he said in response, "So..the Times' solution to surviving the financial crisis that was brought on by bad mortgages...is to take out another mortgage (looks down in despair and shakes head) HELLO!" haha if newspapers go under at least we will have Jon Stewart!
I think that the internet greatly effects voting in the United States. Younger Americans are more likely to search the internet to look up facts about candidates rather than looking to the newspapers or magazines such as "Time" to get their information. I know that I rarely pick up a newspaper and read it to get information about events such as the campaign while i'm at school, instead I rely on the internet and the stories that I see while browsing the internet in order to become an educated voter.
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