Redefining Democracy

January 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the last few decades, the concept of ‘democracy’ had slowly begun to fade. Political corruption and unscrupulous government policies had punctured people’s faith in the governance. Few instances like the Iraq War or the Vietnam are examples of evaporating democracy. What was earlier a “government of the people, by the people, for the people” had been reduced to ‘nothingness’.

However, democracy seems to be getting reinvented, redefined, and revolved with the internet age. With the Web 2.0 revolution, the way people communicate their opinions and grievances have changed drastically. Take the example of President Obama’s presidential campaign. The campaign made use of every tool that can be clubbed under Web 2.0 for promotion. From social networking sites to developing a special interactive website to just connect with the people, President Obama cleverly communicated with the public and we know what a huge impact it was for his presidential elections.

The basic problem with democracy was that even though the government is made for the people, only few people sitting at the higher authority had the power to make decisions on the behalf of the people, and most of the times, those decisions did not benefits those for whom they were essentially taken. This problem is sorted to a large extent by the coming of Web 2.0 revolution. The common masses can communicate with government agencies and tell them about their problems.

Moreover, every governmental organization today has their own website and they use numerous tools to communicate with citizens. The internet has turned into a platform on which participatory and democratic politics operate and people give voice to their opinions and issues that concern them. In web 2.0, democracy is no more dictated by the government. Internet belongs to the masses and through the internet; people exercise their basic right – the right to speak.

 

 

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Modern Volunteering

January 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Many people in the United States are interested in democracy, and how they, themselves, can help further democratic values. On top of this, they may also be interested in helping others, and finding volunteer opportunities. With websites such as microgiving.com, you will find that you can easily combine these interests.

The rise of crowd sourcing, also known as microgiving, has led to many opportunities. Being able to help those who are in need, as well as those who are looking to start a new business venture, is a great option for many people. The more small businesses that there are, the more options people have on how to spend their money. When you help a new company be built, you are helping the country in many ways. Research shows that democratic values tend to thrive in places where poverty is limited and economic opportunity abounds.

As the social trend of microgiving gains more popularity, it will become something that people do happily to help those in need. This is a great thing not only for the United States, but also the world. There are many benefits to volunteering and helping others. It’s a great way to give back, and a great way to help further the world economy.

Many people are looking for volunteer opportunities, but sometimes the many options are a little overwhelming. With crowd sourcing, this is not the case. You are able to choose projects that mean the most to you. You can give as much or as little as you are able to help people and charities. Helping those around you, even if you do not know them, will help the world as a whole become a better place. As more businesses are able to get the financing that they need to open, there will be many more employment opportunities, which means more opportunities for democracy to flourish.

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Twitter Affecting Elections

January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Internet has changed the way we do everything. Paying bills is done online. Getting a car or scheduling the next doctors appointment is done with the Internet. It’s clearly the tie that binds the rest of the world. It has become the one stop shop for all the things you could ever want or need in your life. Yes, you can even find yourself a date for a Saturday night. There is nothing you can’t do on the Internet, including winning presidential elections.

It’s no longer a niche market. The Internet is where the world is at and tapping into the many hot social outlets is a great way to get people to notice the candidate that needs the extra push. One of those great social outlets is Twitter.

Twitter is the social media site where it’s a series of small, brief updates. It’s the constant version of the Facebook status updates. It’s very big in the world of news outlets. Sports, politics, and local news use it a lot to convey information to their followers.

Politicians have found this to be a particularly effective way of getting their name, message, and agenda out there to the masses. It’s not a bother for people to follow a candidate. Many do it in hopes of the candidate following them. Once they build their followers they start putting out messages about what they hope for from their run in office as well as links to websites that endorse them or a site that will tell them where they are suppose to vote on voting day.

It’s this sort of thing that really will make a difference for the rest of the elections to follow. Since twitter feeds get buried quite easily it will be important for the candidates to update often. The more people that see the tweet the more people that will be willing able to be affected and get out there and vote.

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Internet Democracy

January 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the post World War II era, many countries formerly led by oppressive regimes have given way to broader versions of democracy. The latest case is that of Tunisia escaping the clenches of an authoritarian leader who was essentially a dictator operating under the guise of a completely democratic system. With the downfall of the leader, preceded by the jailing of several reporters who had either attempted or been successful in portraying the “voting” as a sham, one wonders how much influence the news media, (which is largely internet based these days) truly holds.

Of course, where democracy is concerned, it never helps to stage an election in which, of the four total candidates, two actually suggest that everyone vote for their choice—the third candidate. What’s of even more concern is that this message was able to be portrayed to the outside world via social media outlets.

Never before has a regime change occurred during an era in which social media is as widespread as it is today. And the smallest things, unexpected things, are happening inside of those media outlets that point to the great sense of relief suddenly flooding the entire nation’s citizenry. The national flag is being shown in many people’s image window on Facebook as they display their proud happiness that democracy has finally, truly arrived in their country. International messages are being sent back and forth on the web as people discuss in real time what has been occurring, from riots to celebrations.

As more freedom and power sweeps the land, online degrees will become even more prevalent, as former internet censorship disappears and free knowledge transfer and education is made available. Those who were formerly repressed (Tunisia’s record was better than the average Arab country, but still behind many nations) will be able to access education in a way that they would not have been able to without online degree programs and in turn, pursue better lives.

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Internet is the Future of Elections

December 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The elections all over the United States are always hotly contested between the Democrats and the Republicans. Both of these parties are fighting for a piece of the action and a chance to control the houses on state and federal levels. It’s the sort of thing that makes the United States elections so important. They who are in control, control their own fate and their own parties agenda.

In the United States there have been many ways to win an election, but one of the best ways to win it these days is through the Internet. There used to be a time when the Internet was something that only a small fraction of the United States used, but these days people spend countless hours online doing any number of things and for that reason alone there is a ground swell to get the politicians online so they can get those key youth votes that they are always missing.

Many politicians these days have a website. It’s a great way to get your message out there. Politicians are also using email as a way to reach people. By making the mailing list as big as possible they can give their supporters a reminder just days before the election. Many times a politician will ask their supporters to forward the email on to those that are undecided as a way to sway them. This makes sense if you think about it. Many undecided voters are that way because they aren’t familiar with either candidate. So once they get contact from any candidate they might feel like they have something to go on and they might vote for that person. It’s a very effective way to steal a few votes here and there. Those votes could mean the difference in the election. These are just a few things to think about when it comes to how the Internet is affecting the elections.

Filed Under: Computers, Democracy, Internet Tagged With: ,

The Use of Facebook

December 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase

If someone asked you what is the best way for an official to get voted into office you might answer through a good public record and the right kind of advertising. You wouldn’t be altogether wrong. There are a lot of reasons why elected officials get into office. The record is a good reason. However, there is another reason why these officials are getting into office in the computer age and it has nothing to do with the way they have served the office. It’s through the use of Facebook.

Facebook is a social networking website where you can connect with millions of people all over the world and see what they are up to and you can chat with them and make real lasting connections. It’s become the social gathering place and one that people are flocking to by the thousands every day.

The political process is not above taking a page out of the book of pop culture in order to win an election. It’s true that Facebook is blowing up and those running for office in the United States aren’t seeing this as a bad thing, but rather an opportunity to get their own message out there and meet new voters each and every day.

They are smart enough to know that in this day and age people check their Facebook with the same regularity they check their email. In some cases people check their Facebook more so. This means that putting their page on Facebook is a way to attract a swarm of potential voters. They attract people through the like button then send out status updates as a way of keeping voters abreast of what they are trying to do with their campaign and how they can use their help. This doesn’t always translate into votes, but when it doesn’t it’s wonderful for the candidates and since it costs nothing to have a page, it’s always worth it.

Filed Under: Computers, Democracy, Internet Tagged With: , , ,
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