Read the following article:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/web_20_election.php

*Please note that this article is an editorial*

Answer the following:

• Do you believe the Interent is an important tool for campaigning?  Why or why not?
• What concerns should a viewer have when looking at media about the campaign on the Internet?
• Why do you think the Internet, and especially the Web 2.0, is being used to a great extent by the candidates?
• Do you agree with the authors message?

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This assignment is due Friday, September 12

 Post your answers here.

 The internet is an important tool for campaigning for a lot of reasons, but the first that comes to mind is speed. Logging into a news site or pulling up a blog is a much faster way to get the information you want then, say, turning on the TV and waiting for them to show you the answers. One of the benefits of the internet, however, is also one of its problems; anyone can say something online, and the only way to tell whether it’s the truth, and opinion, or blatant lying is either verify it yourself or guess.

 I agree with all of Mr. Catone’s major points, though I wonder if maybe some of the people who are more likely to vote both in the polls are also the ones likely to lead productive live, and therefore simply don’t spend a lot of time on web 2.0 has something to do with it as well.

-Irish 

Yes I believe that the internet is a very important campaigning tool because a lot of younger people who don’t spend time watching politics on TV spend time on the computer where the information is right in front of them.  The polls conducted on the internet are not necessarily what the outcome will be because of the age groups. Many of the people who spend their time on the internet are the younger viewers so that’s where the polls information is going to be coming from but the older voters have more numbers and may not be included in the online polls.  I think it is being used by the candidates because it is a way to reach out to some of the public that isn’t otherwise into the campaign it’s a way of reaching out to more people.  I agree with the author because while the internet may not be the best way to campaign or have the most accurate polls, it is helping the candidates in significant ways  by getting the attention of more voters and in some cases even getting campaign contributions. 

-Cole

I think the internet is a very important tool because; many people use the internet for updating news. The internet has websites that are just for the political campaigners. The websites such as myspace, facebook, utube, and even google helps you become updated with what is going on in the campaign. These web sites can show you things you have even missed on the TV. It lets you get more information on something you want to know more about.  Some concerns that you can get with going on the web is that only certain age groups are usually on the web. It’s usually the younger adults, so not all age groups are going to able to see everything that is on the web. The web 2.0 is being extendedly used by the candidates because they try and become buddies with other people that are online. Yes I agree with the authors message, everything the author has mentioned is true. With me being in the age group with being online all the time I know on hand that the political campaigners try and become friends with our age group.

Jessica

 I believe that online campaigning is a very important tool. Millions of people access the web everyday so why wouldn’t you campaign on the internet everyone uses it. One concern about campaigning on the internet is that some people could make fake ads and put them on the web so it looks like a real ad. I think the internet is being used more and more for campaigning because everyone uses it so people are exposed to the campaign ads more. I agree with what the author is saying. - Joel

The internet can be an invaluable tool for connecting with the younger generation of voters. They rely on the web for information more than any other demographic. The difficult part about this outlet of information is they it can easily be manipulated and biased against or for certain issues. False accusations and inaccuracies about candidates circle around as fast as any positive news that the parties want the viewer to see. Talking about politics can be extremely boring and not captivate the younger voters. The candidates want to appear more like the “everyday” person, and less like a foreign martian to the young people. The author is correct is noting how poll numbers and MySpace friends do not correlate. Ron Paul was popular on the internet because he was very different and frankly, he has hilarious soundbytes. Paul is a radical compared to the nominees who won the primary elections, which accounts for his failure in the Republican race.

 -I believe that the internet is a good way to stay in the know with everything that’s going on and the stuff that you care about. You don’t have to listen to the endless ramble of the radio and the information that nobody cares about on the news. You can search what you want and only what you want.

-It can be biased and you not even know it. The information could be false and if its a wiki then anyone can change the information and not even know what their talking about.

-The candidates are using it a lot more because there are more and more people using the internet and web 2.0 sites. The majorities of voters has a facebook and or myspace and are using them more and more so it is just one more way that the candidates can get at the voters.

-Yes I do. I don’t think that the internet is a good way to propose who is going to win the presidency and will be our next president.

Brendan

            I believe that the internet is an important tool for campaigning.  The internet gives people assessable information about a candidate and gives candidates the ability to put out that information for people who are interested in the election.  Some concerns a viewer should have about looking at media about the campaign on the internet is reliability of the media.  Media on the internet many times is bias and might even contain information that is false or that is exaggerating the truth.  I think that Web 2.0 is being used more because of the gaining popularity and potential of new technology.  Web 2.0 and the internet is being used for more things today than ever before.  I agree with the author in the stance that right now the internet campaigning only affects a small portion of the votes, but I do believe that the internet has potential and eventually might have a big effect on elections and media.  

Ray

I believe that the internet is a great tool for campaigning. Firstly because many people have it. In this day and age I don’t know a single person who doesn’t own or have access to a computer. Also anyone can put anything up on the internet, and anyone as scary as it sounds can access anything. If the candidates sent out an email everyone would get it. If the candidates make a website chances are you will see it. While looking at media on the internet viewers should be careful looking at media, because nine times out of ten all websites have bias. Even campaign websites have bias. When looking at them people should definently look for websites that have equal say from both candidates. Also they should make sure the statements are true, because a lot of the statements online are not true. I think the internet is being used because everyone has it and its easy to have access to. Web 2.0 is a good thing for candidates to use because people can state how they feel and the candidates can see what the people think. I do agree with the authors message, because the internet is a good source of information, but for so many people who have internet, a lot of people do not too. It doesn’t cover everyone, so it should only be used for information.

-Josh Li

I think the internet can be a good tool sometimes but not at other times. The internet can be a good tool for the campaigning but not always will the people be serious about the choices. Most of the people that use Myspace are the younger generations. The certain concerns that a viewer would have to watch out for would be false campaigning, by people taking candidates video or paragraph and cutting or adding scences or words to make that presidential campaign false. The candidates can go on and change their information at anytime. So if they found out that people generally didn't like one of their views they could go on their pages and change the information very quickly. Yes i agree with the authors message that the internet does matter in the election. Because it brings in younger voters that don't necessarily vote and could possibly be influenced by all the candidate stuff that's floating around on the web.

Ryan

I do believe that the internet is an important tool for campaigning because it allows for candidates to get there message out to a lot more people than they would with other types of media. It also can help voters find information on candidates. Viewers should be concerned over the reliability of media on the internet, and whether or not the media being used is biased. I think the reason Web 2.0 is being used so much by candidates is that it helps them to get there message out without costing the candidate very much money. I agree with the author's message that the internet does matter in the election.

Nick

Yes, because anyone can look at the ads on the Internet and they are the same no matter where you are located. It’s always going to be the same information. The only concerns that they should have is whether or not the internet source is true. Or the ad, the other candidates that are running tend to make up things about their candidates. I think the internet is used because everyone is able to read it no matter where you are, like I said before. They also use it to make a mockery of the whole system. Yes I think that the author is right because the messages of the candidates do connect with the voters and all over the world. Some voters believe in what the internet is telling them about the candidates and others think that they just lie about it all.

Heather

I do think the internet is an important tool because it is something that is easily accessible for most people. Also it is a cheap way to spread the word about your campaign. It can be a different way to look at the candidate because the point of view is different. The problems could be that the candidate is behind some of the information and so it could be misleading. There could also just be fiction sometimes on the internet because it is controlled by people who are biased in their judging of the candidates.

The internet is a way to reach out to the young voters who wouldn’t pay attention to some of the other things going on with the campaign. Also it is a free way to spread the message to the people and it can be done quickly with Web 2.0. This way it can be interactive and get the young voters ready to vote. The author’s message is right because the internet is a good way to spread their message for free but it shouldn’t be used to make your final decision on a politician just because he is popular on the internet. yup

-Spenser

Yes, the internet is an important tool for campaigning.  It’s a great way for the candidates to spread their message and for them to be known better. It’s a different way for people to get to know the candidates and is also a way for younger adults to be involved since they are the vast majority that use the web. When looking at the media on the internet, viewers could actually be reading false information about a candidate that another candidate put out or they could be reading some false information that a random person made up. Web 2.0 is a great and easy way for candidates to spread their message and have young adults get involved in the election.  Yes, I agree with the author’s message.  I feel that web 2.0 is a great way to read about or see politics.  It definitely has an affect on the millions of viewers that us it.    

Austin

The Internet is becoming much more important in campaigning, simply because people use it so much.  It has everything other sources have, and people can interact more.  Candidates use this to their advantage.  They use the Internet to further their cause.  But people have to be careful, because the Internet can be biased just like other sources; facts and figures can be distorted, and the full story without an obnoxious amount of descriptive words (both positive and negative) about a candidate or plan is just as hard to find as it is offline.

Overall, I concur with the author.  I feel that the Internet does and will continue to play a significant part in campaigning.  However, I disagree in the aspect that the author implied that the numbers of people represented in the Internet are totally bogus.  I’ll admit that they do often turn out differently than in the outside world, however did end up closer to the truth than the author projected (since he only wrote the article in the primaries): Obama, who was the most popular candidate online, won the Democratic nomination and is currently ahead.  Although Ron Paul didn’t win even though he did the best online among the Republican Candidates, the runner up, John McCain, did win the Republican nomination.  So I do agree with most of the author’s ideas on the matter, just not all of them.  

Stephan