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!