Hindman picks apart political freedom on the internet. Is our society really democratic now that people can say whatever they want or are people more controlled by the internet by unclear gatekeepers? What’s funny is that politicians saw only the good of the internet towards their political greed that they could reach more voters and collect more money, but what they did not expect was political freedom of expression. When I was reading this article I thought about all the bills that California tries to pass and how confusing the lingo is when trying to figure out what the bill really does and to add to the confusion are commercials on TV that further delude the meaning behind the bill. Now online people break down the lingo behind bills and demystify the commercials that create vague meanings with which to trick voters. There was one recently one about an Indian Gambling Casino and the profits going towards the tribe. There was a commercial that said the money goes to all tribe members but online the commercial was picked apart by several blogs that said the money goes to the leaders of the tribe very little money from the bill trickles down to tribe members. There was such a stink over the commercial they had to post a new commercial explaining what the bill actually did. I see the internet as a gatekeeper for politicians and keeping them in line from publishing things that are ridiculously slanderous because now people call them out on their lies.
Hindman also admits that many really good blogs on politics are not accessed because there are gatekeepers online called Google who show the most hits to certain sites, so if a site is authentic it still might not be hit upon because not enough people now about it. Society could say Google is not at fault it filters popularity of topic not what is quality. For the politicians the internet is like Russian roulette they can load the gun with a total lie and click the trigger, hoping the lie does not explode in their face. The internet is not being watched enough or filtered enough to allow access to authentic quality. Now we have dozens of people speaking their mind but no really good filters to tell people who should be listened to. It’s kind of like a fire in the room everyone rushes to the door but the guy with the fire extinguisher is crushed by the crowd because no one saw what he was trying to do through the rush of people.
Nice blog, Laura. I agree that the internet acts as a mediator between the truth and what politicians want us to believe. I remember, in times past, how voters really had to rely on media (television, news media, pamphlets) that were available at the time. These media could be controlled by those with special interests. Now, with the internet, real research can be summarized and brought to the attention of the common voters. One thing about most voters is…they are citizens. One thing about most citizens: they work; they have families; they have little time. Before, commercials and sound bitesd were the quickest and most common way for voters to get heir information about topics. The internet is quick and easy, and because it is available for all to post or broadcast their ideas through it, it is becoming more common for voters to dig deeper into issues, rather than relying on the commercials paid for by politicians.
But, I do agree, unfortunately, that google and other search sites, might make it difficult for lesser known sites to be heard.