Mr. Obama’s campaign fully utilized YouTube for its free advertising, which may seem to be much more effective than television advertisements because viewers make a conscious decision to watch them on YouTube or receive them from friends. Furthermore, people are able to view and concentrate on those campaigns and presidential speeches without disruptions or interruptions.
With the Internet, the citizens of the respective countries (and even NETIZENS all over the world) are able to gather deeper information and learn more about presidential candidates from past to present. Many have expressed the rising significance that the internet plays in helping them keep up with politics.
The survey found that the internet is becoming an increasing part of the norm of political participation — people are using it to read the news, share their views, or to participate in some other process to get others to take political action.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/06/record-percenta/
Power and Limitations of Online Media on Politics
Power:
- Gain a voice
- Global reach
- More persuasion/ influence in political campaigns
- Increase awareness and knowledge of citizens
- Compared to conventional means of communicating, the Internet and social media are cheap, and often free
- Young adults will be more receptive, given the trend that youths are the main population on the internet now
- The Internet and social media radically improve the pace of communication and politics YouTube and Myspace have significant benefits for the campaign i.e. increased potential for the candidate exposure at low or no cost, providing the lesser known candidates with a viable outlet to communicate with their voters
- The candidates have a stake in maintaining their images since this will be critical in the voting process. While this definitely poses a problem for candidates, it definitely leads them to be more responsible for their actions because they are immediately posted on a social media site such information spreads rapidly.
- Social media allow for like-minded people to come together and support his campaign. These social media also benefit the voter because they are able to connect with the candidate on many levels and fully explore his campaign. Facebook has mobilized college-aged students to gain knowledge about the campaigns and politics as a whole and could possibly improve the political landscape as a whole by engaging more voters and giving a place for candidates to convey their campaign message.
Limitations and disadvantages:
- Instant gratification becomes a disadvantage. Information truly is power. Because the media industry is highly competitive in contending to push out new content fast, many times fact checking is poor resulting in incorrect news. Some news media because of the freedom of speech can slander especially during a political campaign season.
- Censorship and Surveillance: Internet technologies are used by some countries and private parties, such as ISPs, as the Open Net Initiative is seeking to demonstrate, to block access to the web and to drop packets. Likewise, the Internet might be used by governments to spy on citizens (or non-citizens) – for good or for ill – and to punish them for their political views or activities. This definitely discourages NETIZENS from actively participating in political discussion, henceforth negating the -supposedly beneficial- effects of the Internet on politics. There are many of examples of this phenomenon, from governments imprisoning dissidents for political web-postings and requiring monitoring of cybercafé users to instant messaging software blocking keywords, in regions all across the world. As more and more of our political life moves online, the stakes may be raised if surveillance and censorship of online activity become the norm.
- Also, despite many people’s increasing appreciation for the Internet taking politics to a whole new level, there are some who may feel overwhelmed by the political messages and even propaganda that are so prevalent all over the web today. This may in turn be daunting to youths today and cause them to stay away from politics.
The Apathetic New Generation
Below is a short clip which touches on political apathy among youths of today! Maybe this will lay the background which explains this phenomenon.
Teenagers and young adults are less likely than older adults to value voting or the way government works, and the reason is that the nation is failing to teach the basics for taking part in a democracy, according to a new report.
A large part of this trend in recent years can be attributed to how youths and young adults do not see politics related to their lives in any way. A rapid pace of lifestyle has negated other aspects of our society which may seem irrelevant- such as politics, and in some ways place them on a scale of lesser importance, especially since individuals today are so caught up with consumerism and personal gains. Politics then, seem far from their minds.
Also, schools are focusing so much on academics that they may have failed at educating the next generation of the significance of politics and the repercussions of ignorance. Yet, this does not mean that the education system is to bear the brunt of the blame. Individuals have an obligation to take responsibility for what they choose to learn or not, and there is no greater crime than to opt for a lack of knowledge when there are so many avenues opened up to encourage great engagement in politics in this time and age.
To use the rallying cry of the demonstrators gathered at the MLK Commons in support of the Wisconsin labor struggle, "It's pathetic to be apathetic."http://northernstar.info/opinion/columnists/article_f23591da-453a-11e0-967c-00127992bc8b.html
To use the rallying cry of the demonstrators gathered at the MLK Commons in support of the Wisconsin labor struggle, "It's pathetic to be apathetic."http://northernstar.info/opinion/columnists/article_f23591da-453a-11e0-967c-00127992bc8b.html
HERE'S A LITTLE SOMETHING TO BRIGHTEN THE HECTIC WEEK AHEAD FOR ALL OF YOU HAHAHA ^^
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