Week 13: Empowerment via internet

Do you feel empowered by the internet?
Discuss in relation to the recent federal election in USA

I think that empowerment is a natural reaction that many feel as they cope with the internet. I say that because the internet, like losing a loved one, has an emotional work flow that people go through. Initially, people are scared of the internet (like many are with new technology in general). There is a common fear of doing something irreversible, or detrimental to the internet. This comes from an individualistic experiential view. As people become more accustomed to using Google, and yahoo news, eventually they discover blogs or social networking sites. Here they realize the next stage in the internet, socialization. Their computer is connected to others computers, and they can see the same things! AMAZING. Now everyone can watch the perplexed ground hog at the same time!

In terms of feeling empowered, I think that many people will naturally transition from recognizing a social internet community, to trying to communicate with it. For example, in the early 2000's mySpace.com saw an explosion of mediocre bands spamming individual users for "friend" status. These bands would actually use these relationships as a bargaining tool when booking shows. The internet itself was a communication tool used to gain fans. The bands saw this as a way to increase their public footprint.

Realistically the internet in it's current form is a communication tool. Video, audio, or a combination of the two. This is similar to the hippie movement of Haight Ashbury. Pamphleteer and soap boxing were analogous to blogging, twittering, or even trolling. Websites like blogger and twitter.com offered live updates of posts, which can be grouped by tags. As a means of communication, the internet has the ability to empower anyone who chooses to use it to spread their message. Along with the power to spread "the word" is also the power to spread the image. This past election, president elect Obama was able to secure a trendy middle-upper class vote by putting out an iphone application. This allowed him to communicate with people using the internet, but also show that he is tech-savvy and on the cutting edge of technology. Besides spreading opinion and image, what else can the internet project about/onto an individual/group?