New Media Technologies: Online Politics

1. New Media Technologies: Online Politics COM 300 Kathy E. Gill 08 May 2007

2. Agenda • Recap last week • Community and Online Politics • Discussion Leaders • Lab

3. Recap • Online news: (mostly) repurposed electrons • Anatomy of a blog • Blogroll • Outbound links (attribution) • Date-stamp, permalink • RSS feed (which is what?) • Blogging impact on news • Low cost of entry • Can shape the news (social system impact)

4. Community Defined • Dyson: the unit in which people live, work and play • Esther’s website, Release 1.0 • Sardar: communities are shaped by a sense of belonging – to a place, common struggle, tradition, and history, in other words, it’s more than just having common interests

5. Example: Traditional • Geographic: neighborhood, city, county, state, nation • Issue: Non-Government Organizations (NGO) • Affiliative: church, book club, sewing circle, professional association … • Examples from your lives?

6. Example: Electronic • Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES), 1976 • Bulletin Boards • Multi-User Dungeons/Domains (MUDDs) • Listserv, Online Forums, Blogosphere, Wikis • Examples from your lives?

7. Example: Political Communities • Political parties • Political interest organizations • NRA v Sierra Club • Political blogosphere • DailyKos v RedState • Others? • Has the internet influenced your perception of a specific political party or organization?

8. Characteristics • Self-selecting • May be contingent • May be transient • Questions to consider: • How important are personal ties, stability in political communities? • Can meaningful personal ties be developed without personal interaction? Explain. • How can we foster a stable community online when members can have multiple identities?

9. Types of Political Info • Government documents • Tax forms • Legislator contact • Legislation, regulation • Party or issue-related • 520 expansion, Sound Transit path • Campaign-related • Primaries – WA and FL • Other?

10. Candidate Info • Outlining positions – press, voters • Rebuttal statements • Bio • Getting elected, re-elected • Raising $ • Anything else? • Is any part of this mix served particularly well by Net technologies?

11. Political Info – Your Experience(1/2) • Who has looked for political info online? • Candidate? • Issue? • Other? • When political campaigns come around in our area, which medium is more likely to get your attention? Television? Picket signs? Street-side supporters? Newspapers? The internet? Why? • Which do you trust more? Why?

12. Candidate Communication • RSS makes it easy to read blogs/sources that support and reiterate your own opinions. How might this affect the ability of candidates to tap into the theoretical "reach" the internet opens up to them?

13. Types of action • Mobilizing action – MoveOn.org • Write congressional letters • Write letters-to-the-editor • Organize protest (Akon) • Raising money • Google Ads • Anything else?

14. Connectivity - US • About 60% of all homes have computers • US – about half of all adults who are online at home connect via broadband – that’s about 1/3 of all adults • Note about FCC data • Implications? • How might people who do not have internet access be at a disadvantage in terms of political knowledge?

15. Discussion Leaders • Divide into groups – each leader will share site/info with two groups • Then we’ll regroup and continue larger discussion

16. Assignments • Thursday – newspaper exercise • Thursday we’ll discuss the media project • Final project reminder • NOTE: I will review draft scripts if submitted early. First come, first served.