Final Review Blog

Ahhh... the last blog of the semester. This is simply an opportunity for you to ask and answer each other's questions and discuss anything that you think will be helpful in preparation for the final. I would suggest looking at your class notes, handouts from class, and your reading assignments along with your review sheet. This is primarily an open forum for you so check back often during the week and comment/question/ponder/review as much as you would like. 

One request: please take just a couple of minutes to complete your course evaluation if you have not done so already. I would really appreciate it. Just follow this link to go to Campus Connect.


Good luck with all of your studying!

For Class on 3/13: Looking Forward

We have addressed how the internet and politics affect one another in many different ways during this quarter. Though we have highlighted many areas of concern we have also discussed many methods used to improve the way government works, organizations grow and thrive, and individual citizens improve their voice within our democracy. One theme we have constantly touched on is how much has changed over time. Consider the following:

2 months ago: you started this class
4 months ago: Obama reelected
5 months ago: Facebook tops 1 billion users
2 years ago: Arab Spring spreads, Occupy movement
3 years ago FCC Open Internet Ruling
4 years ago: Green Revolution in Iran, TEA Party movement begins, Google starts personalizing searches
5 years ago: Obama elected with most innovative web based campaign in history
7 years ago: most people had never heard of Barack Obama, Twitter begins
8 years ago: YouTube and flickr
9 years ago: Howard Dean presidential campaign
10 years ago: Facebook starts (for college students only for a few years)
11 years ago friendster
12 years ago: wikipedia
13 years ago: innovative uses of campaigning online
15 years ago: MoveOn.org started, also this thing called Google
19 years ago: Clinton launches first White House website
20 years ago: Web browsers were invented ushering in the modern web
24 years ago: Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web (and HTML)
27 years ago: Internet begins to transition to commercial system
44 years ago: ARPANET established linking four universities
46 years ago: packet switching proposed by Lawrence Roberts
51 years ago: Licklider begins investigating computer networking
53 years ago: first televised debate - JFK vs. Nixon
60 years ago: television becoming commonplace across America
80 years ago: fireside chats begin
88 years ago: radios enter homes in record numbers
94 year ago: Woodrow Wilson was the first president broadcast on the radio
100 years ago: all mass media was still in print
237 years ago Common Sense was published and sold over 100,000 copies - most in American history
563 years ago: The printing press was invented

The point: much has changed, and often in a short period of time.  For an ongoing look into constant news you might want to follow Techpresident.com, the best place on the web for this type of news. Looking forward what do you predict will be the most important ways that the internet and new media will impact politics (and vice versa) five, 10, or even 20 years from now? What can and should be done to help make these changes as positive as possible?

For Class on 3/6: Regulation and Internet Freedom

Internet freedom is a broad concept that affects all internet users and is modified by political forces and corporate forces alike. Much of the debate surrounding internet freedom comes down to a first amendment issue surrounding speech online; who can create it, who can read it, whether it should be limited, and if so when and how should this censorship take place? We are living in a remarkable time where the web and web based applications and devices are used by the vast majority of all Americans but the regulation of this activity is relatively nonexistant. This regulatory void is filled mainly by corporate rules regarding content primarily by content providers like google and apple. After reading the MacKinnon chapters please comment on the reality of internet freedom today and how it may be increasingly threatened in the future. What are the benefits of internet freedom and potential problems caused by it? Should policies be implement to guarantee internet freedom (such as net neutrality) or should we allow the market forces to work as they will on the marketplace of ideas and products that is the internet?

For Class on 2/27: The Wish List

This week we will be talking about various strategies to govern using web-based tools as well as the concept of open government. The themes of government transparency and interactive communication with elected officials will weave themselves through our discussions. For this week's blog I don't have a specific question, instead I would like you to describe what would you like to see in terms of government officials or agencies use of new media in governing or in communication with American citizens. These tools could also come from private or nonprofits (see the sunlight foundation and opensecrets.org for some great examples). In other words, what is on your wish list? Think about what would be most useful or most helpful for us as citizens and feel free to think about this creatively. What could or should happen to maximize the openness and responsiveness of our local, state, or federal government using the internet or web based tools? If you find useful tools or examples please share them. Hopefully together we can come up with some great suggestions and who knows, maybe we will need to start a petition on the We the People site or change.org to see if we can get some support for it.

For Class on 2/20: Weak Ties vs. Strong Ties

Social and political movements have been created and carried out by people from every corner of the globe for any number of reasons. Today some argue that movements for change such as the Occupy Movement in the U.S. or the protests of the Arab Spring are driven by the internet and social media in a way that creates more potent and powerful movements. Others make strong arguments that this is flatly false. This week I would like you to read a fascinating New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell entitled "Small Change," originally published in October, 2010.  This is one of my favorite articles that we will read all quarter as it combines two of the themes I feel most passionate about. In the article Gladwell compares the motivations of those involved in the civil rights movement (and specifically the sit-ins, which emerged in Feb. 1960) with modern day digital revolutions. He argues that they are fundamentally different because of the strong social ties motivating civil rights activists and the weak ties connecting those using social media today. After reading the article, do you agree with Gladwell? Does social media create weak ties and is it fundamentally different from and inferior to the social bonds that drove the nonviolent civil rights movement? Why or why not?

Feel free to provide other examples to support your argument and please react to one another so you create a good online dialogue.

For Class on 2/13: Evaluating Online Organizing

There are many ways that organized interests try to disseminate information and gather support. This week we should evaluate how effectively some of these organizations are using new tools toward these not so new political goals. I would like to focus particularly on interest groups for this week. Several interest groups representing various corners of the political spectrum are represented below. Take a look at these sites and then comment on 1) what they do well or poorly, 2) how similar or different they are, and ultimately 3) what you would recommend as these groups continue to try to expand their fundraising and member base. Keep in mind that most of these organizations have existed for decades and have transitioned into the internet era, the one exception is moveon.org which was created to utilize the power of the internet to organize in a more modern way.

AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons)
AIPAC
NRA (National Rifle Association)
Moveon.org
The Christian Coalition
The Sierra Club

For Class on 2/6: Online Campaigning

This week we are beginning our discussion of the use of the internet for campaigning. The role of the web in political campaigns has evolved a tremendous amount over the past four presidential election cycles, as you have read. The 2012 election was no different as online campaigning reached a new level of sophistication.

To get a sense of how much better the Obama campaign was as using their money effectively and efficiently than Romney's in 2012 take a look at this interesting article.

Also take a look at this fascinating article that Shaza shared with me (thanks Shaza!) about the conflict that Obama and the democrats now face with a dominant technological advantage that was built thought primarily open source technologies. What do they do with this technology: release it to the masses which would follow the entire purpose of open source technology, or keep it private in order to maintain your technological dominance?

Feel free to add your take on what the Obama team/Democrats should do with their technology or you can generally turn your gaze vision forward: Where do you see campaigns going in terms of their use of web based tools of all kinds? If you were advising the Democrats or Republicans moving forward what you suggest regarding how to best use these tools to win elections?

For Class on 1/30: How Democratic Is the Internet?

As we turn our look toward the role of the internet in democratic societies we need to ask ourselves a fundamental question: How democratic is the internet? We know that the creators of the internet idealized the emerging network as an open system that would serve everyone connected to it in an equal way. Everyone can create content and everyone can receive information.

Some have argued the utopian idea that the democratizing structure and social effect of the internet can solve much of our political and social ills by giving everyone a voice and helping to improve transparency, communication, and political efficacy. Many point to the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street as examples of what the internet can do. One of the leading proponents of this is Clay Shirky, one of your authors for this week's reading. You can take a look at how he argues that if governments would act more like the internet it would be better for everyone here:

But there are many who suggest those who think the internet will democratize governments and societies are simply naive. Evgeny Morozov, another of your authors this week, is one of the leading critics. You can take a look at some critiques of the democratizing net here:

So what do you think? Is the internet an inherently democratizing force that can help give more people a voice and open up our political process OR is it simply a new tool used by the same old powerful groups to dominate the conversations in new and more sophisticated ways?

For Class on 1/23: Going Public vs. The Public Going After You

Political leaders have a love/hate relationship with the media in general and the internet offers some particular opportunities and pitfalls. Politicians love getting support, and the ability to speak to their constituents and set the agenda, they hate being scrutinized, investigated, and antagonized in public. As a result many have used used technology to circumvent the media in order to talk directly to the people. This strategy is generally referred to as "Going Public." All politicians in the modern era do this to one degree or another and some do it much more effectively than others. The internet has offered countless new oppotunities to go public by reaching out directly to constituents and potential supporters.

One modern version of going public occurs everyday on Twitter. To take a look at how members of congress tweet take a look at this great site: tweetcongress.org. Take a look at who is active on Twitter and who is not. You can also take a look at how politicians use good old facebook here and here along with going to individual politicians sites. You can also explore the various ways that the president goes public by exploring the White House website (scan the whole website but focus particularly on the photos & videos section at the top).

All of these tools help politicians go public, but at the same time they are open to increasing levels of criticism as new media exposes more gaffes (see Romney, Mitt: 47 percent, and Weiner, Anthony), and politicians have a harder time avoiding controversy.

How would you evaluate the overall changes to the way that politicians communicate via the Internet and its value for them versus the potential hazards it also presents?

For Class on 1/16: The Evolution of the Internet

There is no doubt that the internet is in a constant state of evolution. Ten years ago no one had heard of Twitter and ten years before that a very small number of people were logging on to the internet via a company called Mosiac and had never heard of Googling anything. Twenty years ago, the White House didn't even have a website and services like AOL and Prodigy, which came to dominate the use of the Web weren't in existence. It has continually become more intuitive to use, more convenient, cheaper, more portable and much much faster. As it has entered into our social lives it  also crept into our political world. Today the internet is a nearly limitless source of information that affecting our economics, politics and the very nature of communications and community. I would like to start this blog with an open ended conversation about where we are today and what have been the most consequential results of the evolution of the internet up to this point. You can use the history of the internet (which can be found here and interesting versions here and here) and the following prompts to start your dicussion but please react to your classmates comments.

• What have been the most important ways in which the internret have affected our social and political world?
• Have the changes in our lives brought about by the internet been more positive or negative?
• What do you predict the internet might look like in five, 10, or 20 years?

Welcome!

Welcome to your internet and politics poliblog experience! Each week you will be required to read the post for that week (which may include a news article, question, comment, multimedia clip, controversial issue, etc.) and respond with your comments. Each of your comments should be no more than 1/2 page (approx. 1 long paragraph or two short paragraphs) and must be posted by 8:00 Tuesday night. You do not need to do any outside research in order to respond, just reflect on the topic of that week, the other comments posted on the blog and make an argument presenting your views. The goal is to create an online dialogue that we can then bring into class. You must post at least one comment on 6 different weeks (NOTE: you do not need to write a comment every week). But you MUST read the post and all comments either Tuesday night or Wednesday before class each week. Enjoy!