Online Deliberation
From Internet: Knowledge and Community
For "political engagement" via the internet to be successful and appeal to a wider audience, some integration with current social networking sites should be considered. If not integration, then partial adoption of the model should be explored. It would appear an ever growing portion of the population is engaging in new media. Whether it be a case of narcissism, the desire to feel connected or both, this idea of networking or simply catching up on the latest gossip is catching on. I wonder however in the absence of significant oppression or political strife among the masses, how many, of the so called "common" populace will engage in meaningful deliberation. Software applications that facilitate this deliberation won't guarantee deliberation let alone move us closer to e-democracy. Barring significant issues I'm not convinced Americans will engage in meaning deliberation in the absence of the individual component that is leveraged by Facebook. Social media sites are a success, but these sites foster a personalized experience, a worldwide network whose underpinnings rely on a strong individual component, a virtual place where the user can build a profile that supports personal gratification. How can we entice citizens to the digital table of deliberation? We need a hook and allowing individual users the ability to personalize there space in a form of self-interested behavior has been shown effective. Before one believes this is an "individual first", "community network" second model we need to be open to the idea that people enjoy community connection, while feeling a sense of identity. If participatory interaction is paramount then we must be willing to work ,for now, within the existing and successful social network model. Deliberative applications existing outside this framework will suffer from a low number of aggregate users.
