New media in the service of politics

New media pose new opportunities for different segments of contemporary societies. One of these segments is also politics. Despite very optimistic predictions on how new media could change the way politics works, the major revolutions in politics due to new media haven’t yet occurred. But some changes have been made. Among the politicians, who are keen on using new media also for purposes of their everyday work in the area of politics, is also the president of USA, Barack Obama.

New media, especially Twitter, played an important role in his presidential campaign in 2008 presidential elections. He continues to use new media and its advantages to connect and communicate with citizens. Not only he continues to use Twitter account but he took another step ahead in (pro)active use of new media. Through the White House Facebook page Obama hosted town hall meeting.  As is stated on White House Facebook page, the even was created in order to:

President Obama will connect with Americans across the country to discuss the tough choices we must all make in order to put our economy on a more responsible fiscal path, while still investing in areas like innovation that will help our economy grow and make America more competitive.

Users/participants were able to listen to the meeting and post questions on the event’s Facebook wall. Facebook then chose questions which were presented to president Obama to answer.

Although not all participants succeeded in getting their questions through and Facebook played a role of the gatekeeper, this event made decision-making process in the realm of politics closer and accessible to broader range of USA citizens and aliens following White House and Obama actions. Online live streaming of the town hall meeting reduced the gap between official politics and citizens. This kind of action enables citizens to actively participate in decision-making process while it’s still in progress and to more easily connect with politicians. It’s probably not very likely that this kind of actions will soon become daily practice but it’s a good example on how new media can be effectively used to bring political systems and their citizens closer together.

Generation gap

Generation gap has always been present – younger generations have always have different interests, ideas, wishes than older ones. This hasn’t changed to date – maybe is the gap getting even bigger and harder to overcome. Reading an article Virtual Reality Can Improve Design Skills in Younger Generation highlights one aspect of this gap. New media and technology are normal and common part of younger generations’ everyday. They use computers, social media, phones, etc. everyday – to communicate, to gather information, to study and for several other reasons. These technologies also play a vital role in student lives. Even elementary school kids probably can’t imagine their lives and school work without computer and all the tools it offers. The need for computers and all other technological tools is getting even more important in high schools and college.

New media with their wide range of tools and features offer great educational platform. Many students and some professors have already discovered the value of engaging them for the educational purposes. Nevertheless, many professors and also several students are still not aware of the existence of many different digital tools let alone using them. Many professors don’t really use e-mail (even though many, if not even all of them, have one), have no experience with different collaborative tools, social media etc. Most of the students, on the other hand, use these media on daily basis. Generation gap is here more than obvious. It’s unfortunate that unfamiliarity with new media and technologies precludes their efficient usage for educational purposes. I’m not saying that new media should become main educational tool but I still think they could be usefully incorporated into the existing educational practices. By incorporating new media into their teaching methods, professors could more easily reach students and thus maybe better present them study material and give them additional motivation for studying. And students could effectively use them to facilitate their study.

If we stay open for changes we can make the best out of them. Similarly we can get the best out of new media if we keep exploring them and not fearing and refusing them. Also generation gap can be enriching – older generations with their experiences, knowledge and wisdom together with younger generations with new ideas, energy and enthusiasm can result in positive outcomes for everybody and in generation synergy. And so can usage of new media for educational purposes.

 

 

OpenNet Initiative Global Internet Filtering maps

OpenNet Initiative on its site provides interesting interactive maps showing which countries worldwide are censoring/blocking internet access, social media sites and YouTube access. To see these sites click on the following links:

• to see Global Internet Filtering Map

• to see Social Media Filtering Map

• to see YouTube Censored: A Recent History map.