Discuss – “The power and limitations of Internet for political campaigning”
The power of Internet for political campaigning is certainly immense. Firstly, the use of Internet allows politicians to reach not only mass audience, but target groups who are the young and Internet savvy people. For example, in the recent
Secondly, Internet is a great platform for politicians to raise donations for the campaigns. According to Schouten (2006), in the U.S, “Retired naval officer Joe Sestak out-raised incumbent Republican Curt Weldon to seize a House seat in suburban
Thirdly, Internet improves the interaction between politicians and the citizens. The people have the liberty to provide suggestions and get feedback from politicians almost instantly and efficiently. As the people feel more involved in the politician campaign, the support towards the politician will improve. Moreover, support for the politician will spread through word of mouth if the politician is able to reach out and listen to what the citizens have to say via web technology.
The Internet may seem powerful and effective in many areas for the politicians to reach out to the masses, gain supports and also to build favorable relationships with the citizens, but it does have its limitations in political campaigning too.
Internet main limitation is that it is hard to control, and misuse of the tool can result in dire consequences. Internet is an open network. Everyone has the freedom to post practically anything online. As such “many sensitive and important issues, up to date information were spread easily by using the web tools such as email, YouTube and so on” (http://theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=3249). In this way, negative ideas or messages can be spread easily through the various web tools. For example, Hillary Clinton’s former vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro resigned from her position in the finance committee for the democratic presidential campaign because of the offensive remark that she made about democratic opposition Barack Obama’s race. Her speech, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/11/obama-ferraro-race-flap-r_n_91047.html) sparked off a new topic for discussions in many web pages, and certainly up to date there is no positive support towards her snide remark.
Another limitation is that there is no actual report of the political issues. As mentioned that Internet is an open network, everyone has the liberty to voice his/her opinion. Therefore, many conflicting and bias reports can be noted in many web pages. For example, online news reporter who supports Barack Obama would post more favorable reports about him underscoring his positive attributes. However, the objectivity in news is lost. Moreover, in forums, people who are not politically knowledgeable about the subject may provide their bias comments and alter people’s choice of the candidate. Hence, the outcome of an election may be a worrying factor for politician whose message could be distorted in the process of frivolous web based discussions.
Regardless of the limitations, the power of the Internet as a platform for political campaigning is immense. As more people turn in to the Internet for more information, news, and so on, it is definitely a vital tool for politician to rely on.
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