Political Campaigns within New Media

Caption: Politics Social Media
Creator: Social Link Sandbox
Source: http://www.socialinkmedia.com/blog/94/94

Should new media be utilised for political campaigns?

This issue has provoked ethical concern worldwide while questioning the universal responsibility of Tim Berners-Lee's creation 'Web 2.0' (Gauntlett 2008).

Hamelink (2006) suggests digital technologies expand society’s ability to communicate misleading information. This is evident within Facebook pages of politicians such as Barack Obama and Bill Clinton who possess the freedom to construct idealistic identities (Bcistu 2011; Goffman 1959; Pearson 2009). Politicians may be unethically communicating bias opinions for electoral gain. I believe this practice raises anxiety as they have a powerful influence over consumers ‘following’ their social pages. 

Caption: Bill Clinton
Creator: Facebook
Source: http://www.facebook.com/billclinton

Caption: Barack Obama
Creator: Bellona
Source: http://www.bellona.org/

Although this moral issue is apparent on the Internet (Hamelink 2006), 

it is my opinion that is this digital platform is not at fault. 

If political deceit were not conversed online, it would be found on traditional platforms. The Internet merely allows a networked population to share information and increases society’s ability to assume collective action (Shirky 2011, 28). As supported by Morton (2011) and Prince (2011), social media empowers consumers to take  more control over political movements while governments lose a level of dominance. And isn’t this degree of transparency online more likely to prevent dishonesty than it is on channels disenabling consumer speech?

While there are obvious ethical concerns, I trust the Internet to be a favourable platform for interaction between politicians and civil society.

As an active individual, I urge you to make a difference by sharing your voice with politicians through digital technologies.

Caption: Share Voice
Creator: 123rf
Source: http://us.123rf.com

References

Bcistu, Pete. 2011. "Freedom and Responsibility," Digital Media Student Blog. Accessed March 27, 2011. http://digimediastudent.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/21/

Gauntlett, David. 2008. “Media and Everyday Life.” YouTube video, posted February 19. 

Accessed March 15, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlzu8UYidTY.

Goffman, E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. 1st ed. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

Hamelink, Cees. 2006. “The Ethics of the Internet: Can we cope with Lies and Deceit on the Net?" In Ideologies of the Internet, edited by Katherine Sarikakis and Daya Thussu, 115-130. New Jersey: Hampton Press.

Morton, Jai. 2011. "Power to the People," New Media Native Blog. 

Accessed March 28, 2011. http://jailouisemedia.blogspot.com/

Pearson, Erika. 2009. "All the World Wide Web's a Stage: The Performance of Identity in Online Social Networks." First Monday 14 (3): 1-8.

Prince, Marissa. 2011. "Internet = Freedom of Speech?," Marissa Prince Blog. Accessed March 28, 2011. http://marissaprince.blogspot.com/2011/03/internet-freedom-of-speech.html

Shirky, Clay. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change.” In Foreign Affairs, 90 (1): 28-41.