The Impact of Social Networking Sites on Politics

In lieu of an abstract, below is the first paragraph of the paper. With every advance in technology comes impact on everyday life. This holds true especially for advances in media technology. While the media is a pervasive aspect of life on a day to day basis, a time when it really becomes important is in regards to government and political information. The Internet has become an increasingly important tool for American citizens to not only gain political knowledge, but to engage in the political process itself. Some scholars suggest that this may "revitalize democratic society, enabling citizens to command the political and economic resources needed to become effectively self-governing" (Winner, 2003, p. 167). While it is not the goal of this research to determine if the Internet will eventually lead to a town hall format or direct democracy form of government, it is an interesting idea to suggest. Rather, the focus will be placed on whether or not the Internet, through social networking sites such as Facebook or Myspace are facilitating an increased engagement of citizens in the political process. This article is available in Undergraduate Review: a Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol10/ iss1/12 The Impact of Social Networking Sites on Politics By: Megan Baker With every advance in technology comes impact on everyday life. This holds true especially for advances in media technology. While the media is a pervasive aspect of life on a day to day basis, a time when it really becomes important is in regards to government and political information. The Internet has become an increasingly important tool for American citizens to not only gain political knowledge, but to engage in the political process itself. Some scholars suggest that this may "revitalize democratic society, enabling citizens to command the political and economic resources needed to become effectively self-governing" (Winner, 2003, p. 167). While it is not the goal of this research to determine if the Internet will eventually lead to a town hall format or direct democracy form of government, it is an interesting idea to suggest. Rather, the focus will be placed on whether or not the Internet, through social networking sites such as Facebook or Myspace are facilitating an increased engagement of citizens in the political process. The idea that the Internet may create a shift in democracy is not a new one. The revolutions of the newspaper, radio, and television each raised the same questions. According to Winner, in 1924, Herbert Hoover (at the time serving as Secretary of Commerce) said of radio, "For the first time in human history we have available to us the ability to communicate simultaneously with millions of our fellow men . . . widening vision of national problems and national events." The radio made it possible for the public to gain direct information from sources such as the President of the United States (i.e. Roosevelt's infamous Fireside Chats). As for the Internet, it is not only the access to information that should be considered, but on "computer networks and their potential for empowering citizens." Along with this, Andrew Shapiro suggested that such advances could allow everyone to become "not just citizens, but citizen governors'' (Winner, 2003, p. 171). Bruce Bimber suggested that the Internet may not have as much political prowess as some scholars would like to believe. He developed a theory which he called "accelerated pluralism" to describe the possible future relationship. This theory states that, "the Net is accelerating the process of issue group formation and action, leaving the structure of political power in the U.S. altered, but not revolutionized or qualitatively transformed into a new epoch or era of democracy. He goes on to say that the expansion of communication and its effect on political participation will depend on the already instilled willingness of a person to participate, meaning that the person would probably have participated even without the addition of the Internet (Bimber, 1998, p. 134). This sentiment is also shared by Benjamin Barber who said that, "For without a will towards a more participatory and robust civic system, why should technologically enhanced politics not produce the same incivility and cynicism that characterize politics on the older technologies, radio and television, for example?" In summation, both Bimber and Barber found that it is not technology that will create more involvement, but a desire to become involved. With this in mind, could the Internet work to facilitate involvement for those who desire to become involved but before felt that they did not have the means to do so? One way for people to get involved is to engage in Internet-based communication. Internet-based communication may have the potential to create a paradigm shift in regards to political communication in two ways. One is the populist model in which everyone can participate in the political process, and the other is based on a "cyber-salon" setting where "anyone can engage in deliberative discourse directed toward improving public life, with the process guided by clearly specified rules of engagement to produce well-reasoned outcomes" (Rosenberry, 2005, p. 34). The "cyber-salon" setting is exemplified through a social network that was created in Minnesota,