Socio - Political activism on the Internet

Within every society, groups of individuals come together to support deserving causes. Social activism is most common in the political arena, where groups bound by shared public interests act in concert to deliver votes for political parties. Societal and technological change has accelerated the evolution of such large scale instances of social collaboration with the advent of Internet. In particular, the internet has transformed the value of information, by distributing it across interactive platforms which facilitate unprecedented participation from users and in the process enhancing the value of information multifold. One area where the Internet has significantly empowered groups of individuals with information is the socio-political scenario of the nation.

As the voting public of the United States looks forward to the Presidential election on November 4, 2008, all of the information gathered and analyzed about the activities, policies of and public attitudes towards both Barack Obama and John McCain acquires immense value. Election web sites now encompass a wide range of topics and services, including debate analysis, poll results, voter turnout ratios, and predictions about voting behavior. The newspaper industry represents one form of media that has maximized the access and reach of election information over the internet. Opinions, blogs and buzz are all examples of new forms of media and information dissemination which have been spawned by the internet, and which empower groups with the means to reach new members and influence election outcomes. For instance, the New York Times has a dedicated section on politics that caters to all citizens, delivering market analysis, and blogs with news and commentary serving local markets. Additional services provided by publications like the New York Times also offer online, interactive and live chat rooms with market analysts and electoral consultants who provide deeper insight into the economical policies of each Presidential candidate.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter now host a diversity of forums that are dedicated to the posting and sharing of ideas and opinions about the coming election and each candidate. On Facebook you can find photos, discussion boards and career biographies of both Obama and McCain. The network also empowers local groups with the organizational tools to host events, and a powerful platform for promoting candidates and their respective policies using posters and cards. Featured also are blogging arenas, and the capability to host national call groups for each candidate, to which friends and family can be invited, and which make it much easier to reach out to other like-minded people across the country. These sites also nurture friendships within groups by gathering together women, veterans and students and giving them the tools to form their own communities. On Twitter, there are streams of messages from users about each candidate’s performance on the campaign trail. Both Obama and McCain have also used services like Facebook and Twitter as forums to generate support, solicit funds and propagate their policies and opinions. Minekey, Facebook’s popular application which fuels a discussion community of over two million people, recently launched its own election site to provide a forum for U.S. and global citizens to discover, vote upon and discuss the policies and positions of both candidates.

Clearly, the internet is the driving force contributing to the promotion and advance of public awareness of national issues. Socio-political activism on the net has instigated widespread cultural change, by surfacing all election campaign activities, events and issues available in the virtual world – to all people, wherever they live.