The Impact of Social Media on Democracy

By

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEFINITIONS OF COMMON TERMSIV

a.Internetiv

b.Balkanizationiv

c.Cyber-balkanizationiv

d.Social Networkv

e.Facebookv

f.Facebook Friendsv

g.Facebook Wallv

h.Facebook Groupsv

i.Microbloggingvi

j.Twittervi

k.Twitter Followervi

l.Tweetvi

m.Retweet (or RT)vi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

E-Democracy3

Research Question5

Objectives5

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW6

The Internet Revolution6

Group Membership in the Physical World8

Political Engagement and the Public Sphere8

The Rise of Social Media13

Popular Social Media Platforms16

Facebook16

Twitter20

The Internet: Global Village or Cyber-Balkans?24

Global Village or Cyber-Balkans: The Optimists versus the Pessimists27

Optimists27

Pessimists31

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY35

REFERENCES36

DEFINITIONS OF COMMON TERMS

To understand the concepts discussed in this thesis, it is important to review accepted definitions of commonly used terms.

Internet

It is an electronic network of networks that links people and information through computers and other digital devices allowing person-to-person communication and information retrieval.

Balkanization

Coined at the end of World War I to describe the ethnic and political fragmentation following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, the term most commonly refers to the division of a multinational state into smaller, ethnically homogeneous entities but may also be used to identify ethnic conflict within a single multiethnic state.

Cyber-balkanization

A concept which postulates that although the Internet renders geographic impediments irrelevant, certain electronic communities remain divided along lines of common factor or interest. Additionally, the term refers to the degree to which [these groups'] resources exist as disconnected islands within a larger population.

Social Network

A set of people, organizations or other social entities connected by a set of socially meaningful relationships is known as a social network. When a computer network connects people, it is a social network.

Facebook

It is an online social-networking website that lets users interact with each other by sharing information about themselves via personal profiles.

Facebook Friends

Contacts whose profiles are linked to another user's profile.

Facebook Wall

A space on a user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user. Many use their friends' walls to leave short, temporal notes.

Facebook Groups

A common space where users can meet others interested in a specific topic, disseminate information and conduct relevant public discussions.

Microblogging

A form of blogging that lets users write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) about their lives on the go and send them to friends and interested observers via text messaging, instant messaging (IM), email or the web (Java, Finin, Song and Tseng, 2007).

Twitter

A service for users to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. Individuals write short updates, often called “tweets,” of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are then posted to individuals' profiles, sent to their followers and are searchable on Twitter.com (Twitter.com, 2009).

Twitter Follower

An individual who receives and views another's Twitter updates (Sharpened.net, 2009).

Tweet

An update published by a Twitter user. Similar to a blog posting, tweets cannot exceed 140 characters and are meant to answer the question “What are you doing?” to provide others with quick updates about the user's life (Sharpened.net, 2009).

Retweet (or RT)

To share the tweet of another user with all of one's followers. Retweets are usually prefaced with “RT @username” (Hubpages.com, 2009).

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Background

During the past 100 years, the world has experienced a communication revolution. Almost like clockwork, every few decades a new form of technology has emerged to single-handedly redefine how the ...