The Web

The world wide web is extrordinary in its ability to provide people with access and opportunities that were never available before. One of the greatest features of the internet, as discussed in the articles, was it's ability to serve as a public sphere. A public sphere is a forum that allows an exchange of ideas and opinions between people in an effort to promote democracy. A public sphere must meet the following criteria: it must be a space for mediated discourse, must allow for new, previoulsy excluded, discussants, must be political in nature, and the ideas shared in the public sphere must be judged on merit and not on the authors status. While I believe that the internet has the potential to transform into a public sphere, I agree with the author Papacharissi, that the web can be more accurately defined as a public space. A public space serves as a place that is available for political deliberation, but is not limited to just that.
The internet has proven to be a great source of political information in the past, and has also been a space that allows for political discussion. Many activist groups have websites and blogs that range from the Green party to Gay Rights protesters. These placs allow people who may live on opposite sides of the country to be connected. Also, certain blogs have published information in the past, such as the Drudge Report that uncovered the Monica Lewinsky scandal, that has lead to political reform. I think that the internet has proven to be a great tool in politics today and is a convinent way for people to share their opinions and be involved.
Youtube.com is an especially important phenomena regarding the internet. Youtube alone has contributed to the way the web can be political in nature. Much of the news footage that has been aired previously on news shows has also been posted on Youtube. This allows people who may have missed important streaming live videos of events or speeches to watch the clips on Youtube. For instance, Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech has been viewed almost 6 million times on Youtube.


Many may speculate that the exchange of political ideas or information online may result in "socially filtered" news. I personally think that even though the internet provides news in a new medium it is still valuable to people around the world. The interent allows news to be updated immediately and accessed easily which are great improvements. The internet may be used for many purposes, which are not all political in nature, but I believe that if the web contintues to develop it will become a great forum for political discussion and exchange of ideas.