Foreignaffairs. Politics Faces Sweeping Change via the Web. Internet is a growing platform for political change, USC study finds - MyNewsLA.com. The Internet is a growing platform for political change, users’ faith in the reliability of online information continues to dip and fewer adults approve of children’s online use, according to an annual online impact study released Thursday by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. Those views are among more than 180 issues explored in the 2014 Digital Future Project, conducted with Bovitz Inc. The study — now in its 12th year — is billed as the longest continuing survey about the role of digital technology in American life, focusing on the views and behavior of Internet users compared with those of non-users.
This year’s results show a growing percentage of Internet users recognize the massive power that online technology has in political campaigns and building political influence and also understand the political clout it gives the public by providing a more direct say in government. For example: — 63 percent agree that going online can help users better understand politics; How the Internet Has Changed the State of Political Debate | Rand Strauss. The 2008 political campaign undoubtedly changed how politicians view the importance of the Internet. Some have said that without the Internet, President Barack Obama wouldn't have been elected.
Regardless of your view on that, there's no denying that the Internet has changed the way we view, research and debate politics today. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of adult Internet users go online for data about government spending and activities. Think back 15 years ago -- that would have seemed otherworldly! Below are highlighted some important ways that the Internet has changed political debate and campaigning online, and how we process and consume that information. How we donate our time has changed. Volunteering has always been an important part of the political process, especially for politicians during campaigns. Political activism has also changed with the birth of the Internet. Politicians can now reach out to constituents virtually. Using Yahoo! Technology supports movements. But only risk-takers make political change | The Yes Men. Technology has always been instrumental to movements for social and political change, but recently, it’s been getting too much credit for the success of those movements.
People talk about how Egypt’s revolution was due to Facebook, or how none of today’s activism (Ferguson, the Keystone XL protests, Occupy) would be successful without social media. That’s all hogwash. Hosni Mubarak had no reason to fear a website, only what people might do when they stopped looking at it; shutting down Facebook only got people into the streets that much faster. Electronic technologies can be important and useful, but they’re never revolutionary in themselves. Like engravings, the printing press or other technologies that have appeared over the centuries, electronic media do help activists get the word out. Even “clicktivism” – tweeting, liking, or adding your email to online petitions, which is ultimately just a much less impactful version of writing to your congressperson – has its place.
Political activism is as strong as ever, but now it's digital – and passionate | Technology. Like most Americans of my generation – born in 1973 – I learned about civics from television. On Saturday mornings, our diet of cartoons was regularly interrupted for Schoolhouse Rock, three-minute animated musical lessons on science, grammar and the workings of government. I know that a bill can die in committee before coming to the House for a vote because I can still sing "I'm Just a Bill", an incurable earworm and a pretty thorough overview of America's federal legislative process. We don't teach civics this way anymore and that's probably a good thing. Today's Schoolhouse Rock would have to explain why part of Congress shut down the US government in a tantrum over a law they didn't like, which is hard to accomplish in three stanzas, and worse, "intransigence" doesn't rhyme with anything. It's hard to teach civics in three-minute snippets because the way we participate in civic life is changing shape – and changing very quickly.
No wonder it's hard to get our heads around it. Internet as a Driver of Political Change: Cyber-Pessimists and Cyber-Optimists | GESI. There are two schools of thought about the impact of Internet on the processes of political change. On the one hand, individuals who believe that this technology has some features that promote the spread of democracy around the world, and those who believe that this instrument consolidates authoritarianism and political repression. The purpose of this article is a descriptive analysis of the main arguments used for both to justify their positions. This work defends the argument that both views attribute a deterministic role to Internet which does not correspond to its neutral nature. In contrast, the effects of Internet on political change depend on the context and the ability of actors who use it. Download full article. To cite this article: Manuel R. Torres, "Internet como motor del cambio político: ciberoptimistas y ciberpesimistas", Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos, Vol. 1, No 1, (2013), pp. 127-148.
Will the Internet Remake Politics? The Internet’s impact on politics in the 21st century seems to be unquestionable. Political campaigns, social movements and web revolutions indicate that the Internet not only bolstered popular reaction and mobilization, but also degraded state sovereignty. The emergence of the Internet at the beginning of the 21st century significantly influenced our channels of communication and forms of social interaction. The Internet’s impact on society in our contemporary world can be compared to the effect of radio and television in the 1930s and 1960s. With the change of social interactions and means of communication, political shifts are inevitable. Political campaigns, social movements and web revolutions are indicators that the Internet is already changing politics in terms of political communication, participation and mobilization. The Internet’s impact on politics can be seen through the lances of political campaigns and rallies for various social issues.
Image: Copyright © Shutterstock. Internet technology a tool for political change in Arab world. The revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen are driven by deep dissatisfaction with authoritarian regimes, but Internet technology has played a crucial role as a 21st-century weapon for democracy movements, experts say. Inspired by the recent overthrow of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia, citizen activists on Thursday escalated their protests in Egypt and Yemen, denouncing their respective governments.
And social media played the dual role of a virtual town square where protest leaders rally the masses and counter government disinformation.Services such as Twitter and Facebook are "playing an increasingly large role in almost any mass protest around the world," said John Palfrey, a law professor at Harvard University who studies limits on Internet expression. "We will see more of this. " "The reason why it was so effective is because of what happened in Tunisia," she said. Egypt is far from alone in seeing the Internet and other new technology as threats.
The Internet´s Impact on Political Parties and Campaigns, International Reports, Publications, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.