"Across the world, the internet has fundamentally transformed how democracy is performed. It is certainly not the first time technology has so altered the social and political landscapes. The advent of the printing press, radio and TV produced similar transformations in how people rallied causes and organized.
But the internet provides something more. Where print, radio and TV have permitted political and community leaders to "get their messages" out to the masses, they are largely one-dimensional methods of communication. With the internet, however, we are seeing for the first time how multi-dimensional technology allows not just for the amplification of a "message" by those at the top, but it also allows for the creation of sub-messages, anti-messages, and other reactions by the masses.
In other words, we have moved from the era of citizen passivity – reading or watching or hearing about current events – to the era of citizen proactivity, where individuals are empowered to opine on, report on, dispute, support, or organize around those current events.
From the 2D organizational world of decades past, we are moving to a 3D version of democracy, where "feedback," "conversation," and "accountability" are key, whether they be in the form of replies, retweets, or YouTube video responses.
To what end, however? Sure, all of this talk about "online revolutions" sounds just as sexy as "information superhighway" sounded back in the 1990s. But practically speaking,what is the real effect of this technology on democracy? Getting out the vote aside, and looking past election day to the daily grind of forming a more perfect union, how has technology changed the way we practice that ancient concept?
My perspective is that the technology we deal with today is a chisel which allows us to chip away at the walls placed between ordinary citizens and those that enjoy positions of power. The previously unassailable press institutions can no longer hide behind veneers of objectivity and accuracy when fact-checking is just a Google away. D.C.'s most powerful, who preen about as if they are the smartest in the country, can't hide the fact on Twitter that they are, indeed, pretty stupid"...