Extra Credit: The Race of Web Sites 2004

First of all, I found it really interesting that this study was done from the point of view of an unaligned voter, and a committed voter. This is something that I would have never even thought of doing. I also found it really interesting the different things that were looked at from the two perspectives. I believe this is a really good way to get the point of view from the majority of people who would look at the web sites. It was interesting to read about what the setup of the different sites say about those who may visit them most often (such as their demographics). After reading this article, I agree that "good Web site architecture anticipates the information that a potential voter might want to find and then structures the site to make it as easy as possible to succeed." I think that in these days of ever changing technology, it is really important to have a well put together, easy to use/understand website. People today will click away from a website within minutes if it is too difficult for them simply because there are so many other options, why would they waste their time having troubles with one? If a user can't find the information they are looking for on a certain site, they will most likely navigate somewhere else, and in this case, that somewhere else could very well be an opponents website. All in all, I found "the verdict" as described by Gill to ring true. It was interesting that Kerry's site seemed to outperform Bush's, but this obviously wasn't in a way that truly mattered to those who visited the sites. A future study on the next presidential websites in contrast to these previous ones would be really interesting to read about.

Internet Technology and Politics

I feel that internet technology has greatly changed the way the politics has worked over the years. I agree that the internet is a medium through which campaigns can raise money and support. I feel like when it comes to politics, there are many Americans who are sort of 'middle of the road.' Meaning that they may support one thing or another, but they aren't incredibly passionate to the point that they're going to go out and physically do something in support of their side. Therefore, the Internet is a very good way to get these people (referred to as the 'number 2 people' in Scheiber's article) more involved without making them get out of their homes. They are able to stay at home, yet still play an active role in politics.

I also thought the idea that "using ever more detailed data, a computer can tell you exactly how much certain demographic characteristics increase a person's likelihood of voting - and of voting a certain way." This really made me think how amazing technology has really gotten. It seems as though eventually, through computers, campaigns will be able to individually target certain people and know exactly what they want, therefore they will be able to cater to their needs/wants/concerns. The Internet will eventually get more people to vote, because it will be easier for them to be informed. I believe a main reason why people abstain from voting on certain things/people is because they do not feel like they are informed enough on a certain topic to make a decision.

I also fee like different political blogs could have a major impact on how certain candidates run their campaign. Those who are running could easily go onto an opposing blog to see what the people are saying/thinking about them and change their campaign to target their concerns.

I agree with a lot of what these authors had to say. In the article by Riedel et al. there were many points made that made a lot of sense. The main point that I agree with was that "most people use the Internet in conjunction with other national and local news sources." I feel that this is true in many cases, such as if somebody sees something interesting on their local TV news, they are able to go onto the Internet site for that station and discover more about what they are specifically interested about. This goes along with their idea that "on the Internet, users can actively select stores they want to explore and, with the help of Web links, find extensive information from the past and present about these stories." I believe that many of the hypotheses of this study are true, but would like to see a study that was conducted in a larger area. I feel that this maybe had an effect on the results because they were not nationwide.

Discussion Questions:
1) Most of the discussed impacts the internet has on politics have been positive; are there any negative effects? If so what? And why might these effects occur?
2) In our daily lives is the Internet used in conjunction with other news sources? Why do we think this is and what are some examples of how this happens?
3) What are some more ways that the internet be used to help to support/damage someone's political campaign?