Politics & Technology

According to the Pew Internet Study of 2008, 46% of Americans have used e-mail, the internet or text messaging to get information on the 2008 presidential campaign. Among the different ways of communicating information about the campaign, 35% of Americans admit to watching political videos about the campaign. 10% of Americans admit to using social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or other social networking sites to get information about the campaign. 6% of Americans have contributed financially to campaigns as opposed to 2% in the 2004 elections. Many people use the internet to access information on the campaigns such as debate transcripts or where candidates stand on different issues. A popular website to get debate transcripts is Commission on Presidential Debates. These are just some of the statistics and facts which show the prevalence of the internet and technology in politics.

Politics in the Age of Youtube:

Henry Jenkins & Stephen Duncome

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2008 Campaign videos

Videos, especially on YouTube have grown very popular throughout the debate. They range from songs and parodies of the candidates to more serious informational videos. In today's society, you can not watch t.v. or go on YouTube without seeing videos about politics and this year's election. This trend will only grow as technology becomes more prevalent in society.

Time for some campaigning

Election Rap Battle 2008

You Can Vote However you like

It's Election Day, Charlie Brown:

Barack Obama Campaign Commercial

Voting Technology

Remember the disastrous voting issues in the 2000 presidential election, especially with the Florida punch cards.  It was quite some time before we actually knew who the newly elected president was. George W. Bush won by a very slim margin and there are still those today who argue that Al Gore was the true winner of that election.  With modern technology one would think that such antiquated systems as punch cards would be a thing of the past.  Electronic voting seems to be the direction the United States of America should be taking, but is electronic voting really as technologically advanced as it should be? You might be surprised to know that apparently they are not. Check out a New York Times article and a Wired article about electronic voting. Also of interest is whether or not there is security in electronic voting.  According to a "Top to Bottom Review (TTBR)", security is a definite concern.  Berkeley University of California did some more investigating in regard to electronic voting and issued a report worth reading.  It should be interesting to see what the future holds for us as far as voting is concerned.  Maybe a day will come when we will be able to vote in the comfort of our homes, but as of right now, it seems like that will be a long way off.

West Virginia Vote Flipping

A video on the calibration problems experienced by some voters using touch screen voting machines

What technology does to politics:

various media on the topic:

Joe Trippi interviewed about technology in politics

The Influence of Technology on Politics

Political effects of Technology

Much of the technology in today's society is used by politicians to influnece voters, citizens, and well everyone to agree with what that particular politician is saying All of the political campaign videos above were used to influnce people one way or another. Basically, this can help candidates because it makes it easier to influence people to be on that candidates time. People can be influenced very easily and put a few sad pictures on a commercial and blame the cause of those pictures on someone else, and before you know it, you will have a following. technology can effect politics in many ways besides this as well, this is just one of the many. 

 http://www.candidatesforsale.com/

Pollie Award for Best Organization/PAC Website

This site gives people an insight on why candidates don't just do the obvious right thing when they are campaigning. They have an outside influence, money, that prevents them from making decisions that will help the country in the end. On the front page are 2 examples. The first example is oil addiction. Basically the oil companies support a candidate. Those candidates vote against alternative energy and the oil companies keep paying them off. The same is with tax breaks on major polluters. The polluters donate to the campaign for a candidate and he/she will vote to give the company a major tax break.

The website has an eye on 6 candidates, half women and half men. It keeps track of them letting us know what's going on with their corrupt ways.