Web 2.0, Technology, Politcs

When Web 2.0 Meets Politics

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/61156.html?wlc=1235094177

Obama Gets to Keep His Blackberry

http://www.internetnews.com/breakingnews/article.php/3798011


The article is a bit outdated, but the issue it raises may be even more relevant today. Many journalists, writers and bloggers have looked back since the burgeoning of Web 2.0 to comment on the impact of the newest internet-related sensation. The article "When Web 2.0 Meets Politics" suggests the newer version of the web, while giving more power to the individual, creates “massive stimulation” so that web users become increasingly satisfied to adhering to opinions and facts they can obtain at the click of the mouse and complacent in their desire to search any further than the latest blog.
Web 2.0 is clearly crafted to be user-friendly. It allows people to quickly exchange opinion and information through a countless number of networking sites. Blogging sites have clearly put a new spin on journalism, personal, subjective commentary through online posts is to most a much more appealing form of communication than traditional news media. We all know it. We’re wired in for good. This trend articulated in the term Web 2.0 holds many more possibilities and its byproduct, News 2.0, will become even more prominent. Its not just the everyday user that’s jumping to use these terms. Government leaders are quickly realizing their capabilities. The article entitled “When Web 2.0 Meets Politics” states that Barack Obama “used professional networking site LinkedIn to ask “How can the next president better help small businesses and entrepreneurs thrive” and Hilary Clinton suggested the creation of a “government blogging team”. Social networking sites like facebook and Digg have established partnerships with news sources CBS and ABC. Speeches from our last presidential election were streamed and watched by an incredible amount of users and President Obama himself made a fuss when fellow White House officials tried to persuade him to give up his blackberry.
So are we in danger of becoming a complacent, overstimulated society? I would say no. I think the new wave in web technology has more often than not helped people to become more aware of current issues and affairs. I can see the light and dark in the issue – too often personal opinion and commentary posted as blogs or journals entries are taken unchecked as fullproof truth. Most web users don’t make the extra effort to research their facts or consult more than a few sites. Still, the web is increasingly accessible and customizable, and if manipulated and utilized in a correct, accurate way, on the part of both the content provider and the user, the results will beneficial to both sides.
Another point in the article was the idea of government as a form of entertainment, with the real issues disguised as a “star watching game” put on by Youtube. I can see how you could argue that Web 2.0 can become a distraction from the true political agenda, yet politics doesn’t need the web to be made into a sensationalized game.