The Internet's New Influence On Politics
from the changing-media dept
With the announcement that retired General Wesley Clark is entering the presidential race, we have yet another take on the way the internet is being used in politics (in ways that are surprising many "political experts"). Already there have been thousands (no, really) of articles about how Howard Dean has successfully used the internet to campaign his way from a nobody to the leader of the Democratic pack. Now, Wired News is pointing out that the push to get Clark to run was done almost exclusively on the internet - something that was unheard of previously (though, others have picked up on it and are trying to "draft" other potential candidates). None of this should be all that surprising - except, apparently, if you're a Washington insider. Still, no matter what your politics, it's nice to see the internet being used as a way to push for ideas - and allow small groups of people without very much money to make a difference politically.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
I think blogs are a HUGE part of this trend, since opinion making is shifting into the hands of everyday people.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]