The document discusses the evolution of the internet from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Web 1.0 allowed for searching and reading information but little user interaction, while Web 2.0 enabled collaboration, sharing, and more dynamic content. Examples of how social media like blogs and YouTube have increased citizen participation and activism are provided, such as how Obama's 2008 campaign utilized these platforms. The Arab Spring demonstrations are cited as a case study of how the internet can help activists topple dictators by organizing protests.

1. REPUTATION
ON THE
INTERNET
Interaction environment
Citizen activism on line

2. Interaction environment
 What impact does the Internet have in
your own life?
 What do you use the Internet for?
 Why is your generation called the
NetGen?
 What’s the difference between Web 1.0
and Web 2.0?

3. The first implementation of the web
represents the Web 1.0, considered the
"read-only web."
The early web allowed us to search for
information and read it, but there was very
little user interaction or content
contribution.

4.  Web 1.0 was an early stage of the
conceptual evolution of the World Wide
Web, centered around the top down*
approach over the use of the web and its
user interface.

5.  (*A top-down approach is the breaking
down of a system to gain insight into its
compositional sub-systems. In a top-down
approach an overview of the system is
formulated, specifying but not detailing
any first-level subsystems. Each subsystem
is then refined in yet greater detail,
sometimes in many additional subsystem
levels, until the entire specification is
reduced to base elements.)

6.  Technically, Web 1.0 webpage's
information is closed to external editing.
 Information is not dynamic, updated only
by the webmaster.

7. Second generation of the
World Wide Web
 Web 2.0
 Focused on the ability for people to
collaborate and share information online.
 Web pages are more dynamic
 The Web is more organized and based on
serving Web applications to users.

8. BLOGS
 They can help elect presidents, launch
new products, expose tendencies, create
public opinion, etc.
 Most good quality blogs are interactive,
allowing visitors to leave comments and
message each other.

9. Types of blogs
 Personal
 Corporate and organizational
 By genre: political, health, fashion, travel,
education, etc.
 By media type: vlog (videos), linklog
(links), photoblog (photos), sketchblog
(sketches), etc.
 Blog search engines
 Etc.

10. Interactive Journalism
 Consumers directly contribute to the story.
 Through Web 2.0 technology, reporters can
develop a conversation with the audience.
 Newspapers decline circulation as people get
news on the Internet for free.
 You Tube: How NY Times fuels interactive
journalism -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfXu8pC
W2-g

11. How Obama’s Internet
Campaign Changed Politics
 Facebook,MySpace and You Tube to
announce events, rally volunteers and
raise money.

12.  John F. Kennedy’s use of television helped
him win the presidency.
 Barack Obama’s use of the new media
helped him win the elections.
 He used You Tube for free adverts:
 BarackObama.com -
http://www.youtube.com/user/barackob
amadotcom?feature=results_main

13.  Obama's campaign won praise for its
innovative use of social-networking sites,
including Facebook, MySpace and
MyBarackObama.com, to announce
events, rally volunteers and raise money.

14.  Political consultant Joe Trippi said:
 “Mr. Obama used the Internet to organize
his supporters in a way that would have in
the past required an army of volunteers
and paid organizers on the ground”.
 The New York Times, Bits, Claire Cain Miller,
November 7, 2008 -
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/how-obamas-internet-
campaign-changed-politics/

15.  “The campaign’s official stuff they
created for YouTube was watched for
14.5 million hours,” Mr. Trippi said. “To buy
14.5 million hours on broadcast TV is $47
million.”

16. Social networking sites
 Some of the most common:
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Linkedin
 Flickr

17. Internet and citizen
participation
 Does the Internet exacerbate political
polarization?
 Does the Internet empower ordinary
citizens vis-à-vis political elites?
 Can the Internet help activists to topple
dictators?

18.  Political science paid little attention to the
Internet until recently.
 This is changing today. Scholars are
beginning to study how the Internet may
be affecting politics.

19.  The spread of the Internet increases
citizen participation and democracy.

20.  CASE STUDY:
The Arab Spring and the use of the
Internet

22.  The Arab Spring is the name given to the
revolutionary wave of demonstrations
and protests in the Arab world that
started on December 18, 2010.

23. Sources
 Postman, Joel: SocialCorp, Social Media Goes Corporate,
New Riders, Berkeley, California, 2009.
 Practical E Commerce:
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/464-Basic-
Definitions-Web-1-0-Web-2-0-Web-3-0
 The Consequences of the Internet for Politics
, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 15: 35-52 (Volume
publication date June 2012) -
http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/9cMTd7KbkxQxxfWHas7
c/full/10.1146/annurev-polisci-030810-110815
© Inés Scudellari 2012