Ways that internet has changed political interactions globally Essay

Ways that internet has changed political interactions globally - Essay Example Naturally then, political interactions are no exception. Internet has changed the political interaction globally in a number of ways across the entire â€Å"life cycle† of a political candidate – from the way electoral candidates reach out to the masses for proposing their agendas and for raising funds, to how they interact with the people once in power (or not in power), to how they formulate policy - both domestic and foreign, and finally even to how people oppose the government. Internet, through its large plethora of social networks, news and information sites/blogs has become a major force in the election process globally – for information gathering by masses about the political agendas, for marketing and advertising of candidate’s visions, and for fund raising. The US presidential elections in 2000 marked the beginning of the active use of internet in the election process as all candidates started opening and maintaining their websites. By 2004, blogs started cropping up and became a leading source of information and update for the people about the electoral process, and political parties started using the internet to promote their candidate’s visions. And in 2008, internet made it possible to overcome one of the biggest challenges of the electoral process – collecting small donations cost effectively. Until then, it was considered too costly to get the small donors’ money and was often neglected; the Obama campaign col lected an estimated $300 million through small donations made on the internet and showed how internet could easily overcome this problem with the biggest cost in the process being the transaction fee on cards. The effective use of internet is also often credited for a relatively young and unknown Senator Obama going on to become the president of the US. Internet has also changed the way politicians communicate with the masses in general – for information dissemination and opinion gathering. It allows a rapid interaction