Impact of internet social and political Essay

The profits is less than two decades old except its preserve has been felt by about every one(a) in the global village. It has not exactly revolutionized our personal interaction habits but has to a fault impact greatly on other spheres of our life, close notably the economy. In earthy societies, the digital applied science has not only influenced the policy-making talk but also the alto wreakher governmental systems. Shapiro (1999) suggests that the digital technology has captured the attention of everyone from the media, government and the general popular.Although the initiation of the profits has brought with it some negative aspects, the digital technology has been hailed as the mans new road to the better world. This paper will render to discuss some of the aspects of the network that book continuously impacted on our amic sufficient and semi policy-making behaviours as citizens. Computers and the internet charter greatly facilitated and expand the indivi duals capacities in every bea of the parliamentary law. Gurstein (2000) contends that the new ICTs hurl impacted al closely everyone from institutions to business to organizations to the political arna.The impact has been so great that every sector of our society feels obliged to embrace the info confabulation technology in order to either emend the running of the government, community networking or to improve the citizen participation in the new information society. Terms such as citizen networks, digital cities or e-governments have become common expressions these days. They s intend imply the new ways of interactions that exist among the governed and the government and new ideas regarding the metropolitan policies, through the use of electronic media (Sclove, 1995).The urban settings, built landscape as well as the loving setting in our society, has undergone tremendous shimmy from the last decade into the new millennium. The citizens have also not been unexpended beh ind in this era of transformation. What we consider space, time, and our perception of authorities as well as what we consider public or private and local anesthetic or global has greatly changed. The advancement in the information communication technology has largely contributed to the changes in our cities and contemporary societies (Tsagarousianou, Tambini, & Bryan, 1998).There is a new concept that has caught on with most people in our society concerning governance. The term electronic democracy though has been in use since sixties when most activists introduced a number of communication medias like free piano tuner stations, to make the governments more account open and responsive to its citizens, has found its way backside in the advent of the internet (Sclove, 1995). Internet is currently being employ to marshal grassroots groups to support a certain cause by most civil activists.There is also a growing majority of citizen initiatives that help to shape public opinio n and thus influencing policies both at the national and local aim. The internet therefore has greatly challenged the hitherto monopolies of the most political classes through better communication networks that have empowered the citizens to piss a form of democracy in the society (Schuler, 1998). Today, many a(prenominal) cities about the globe have created home pages in the internet and forums for interaction with their city residents.Governments around the world both at the local and national level in developed and developing nations alike, have invested in e-government projects through networks that alter citizens access to government structures, engage in online transactions or to get information on government policies. Some of these networks and sites have enable citizens to enroll in most decision making regarding the management of urban habitats (Underwood, 2002). The internet has great potential to amass groups of people persuasive to certain ideologies. many another (prenominal) organizations now have websites which they use not only to communicate with their members but to recruit more like-minded individuals into their groups. Indeed the internet has become one of the major tools for lobbying citizens to a particular cause. Such organizations as the Internet fellowship and Voters Frontier Foundation have been very active in recruiting and educating the public on political issues in America (Tsagarousianou, Tambini, & Bryan, 1998). These groups have greatly contributed to the policy making processes through intensive lobbying.The internet has therefore provided a better platform for the citizens to actively participate in the political atomic number 18na. This maturation has actually dealt a big blow to the interest group politics that have gone on over the years (Davis, 1999). The internet has impacted greatly on how we interact these days. Due to its widespread and accessibility, the information communication technology has completely changed the forms of kindly engagements. Today, there are numerous social networking sites that have increased the speed at which we do interact and direct our social activities.The most notable ones are MySpace and Facebook, which have evidently interpreted the social interactions to the next level. These sites not only make it easier to keep in touch with friends and family members but enable subscribers to find other friends online. The era of information communication has ushered in a new way of keeping contacts with others no matter the distance between us. In a nutshell, the internet has trim back the world to a global village where everyone can be reached entirely by a few clicks of the mouse (Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008).The social networking sites have also been very important in educating the public on social and political problems afflicting the society. There are groups of people who have formed social forums and recruited individuals with like-minded views o n the social and political events in the country. Members would be substantially reached through the internet and topics as well as current affairs discussed. These forums have been quite helpful in bringing change in the political and social arenas in our country.It is the emergence of the internet as a political tool that some countries like the Myanmar, Iran and China have outlaw its usage among their citizens. These countries have restricted contents of political and religious materials that are accessible to their citizens (Shapiro, 1999). Again, a new internet phenomenon has emerged reshaping the politics and political activities in many countries around the global. What has been referred to as the internet activism has caught on in many countries and political players and citizens alike have embraced internet to win masses into their camps and political groupings (Tolbert, & McNeal, 2003).The current United States president Barrack Obama owes much of his political succes s to the internet. He amassed overwhelming campaign funds that enabled him outmuscle his opponents in the 2008 elections simply by recruiting a greater mass of followers through the internet. The citizens who were glowing for change contributed wholeheartedly to this cause through internet donation. What was most unusual was the overwhelming following Obama was able to attract over a victimize period of time in politics.Those who contributed included even non-Americans, who found it easier because of the internet. The internet has also provided leisure activities to its users through social entertainment sites. Currently, there are a number of forums that provide games, videos, and cartoons to entertain internet users. The internet has also enabled easy access to news and information. People these days are able to watch and listen to news, book for vacations, get information on atmospheric condition and many other things of their interest.There are also thousands of blog sites t hat have not only provided a platform of communication but have enabled most people to interact by sharing views on unlike happenings around them. The blog sites have also become political tools most citizens use to lobby people onto their way of thinking (Rodgers, 2003). During the early stages of its development, in the early 1990s, the digital technology led to what many considered internet-euphoria. Many optimists guess it was the new dawn to mankinds participation in social, political as well as economic spheres in his society.These euphoric military rating has somewhat changed over the years as more people are now becoming more aware of the dangers technological advancement whitethorn pose to the society (Engel, & Keller, 2000). There is the issue of lack of internet safety as the social networking sites have proved to be. The critics of internet pick out that it may increase cyber thefts or deceits because one may be able to steal ones identity especially from the socia l networking sites. The challenges present by the internet to the political activities have been cited as some propaganda wars between nations which may spill over into real battles (Tolbert, & McNeal, 2003).Conclusion The internet has profound altered our societal operation both in political and social spheres. The citizens will continue to access vital information that would finally empower them which in turn will reshape the politics and political class that have long governed with their interest-based policies. Again, the internet has proved to be a better social tool in our society because it has made interaction easier than before. However, there are a few challenges that must be beat to make it safer for every user.