The internet and democracy

Social Media networks along with the internet have created an opportunity for the growth and spread of democracy.   Before moving on we must understand the term democracy, according to the Merrian-Webster online dictionary (2013) democracy is an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights; while they also define democratic as relating to the idea that all people should be treated equally. The internet is a place that is regulated by local governments.  Therefore, not all user of the internet are bound by the same rules consequently raising flags about the true democratic aspect of the internet.

The World Wide Web provides the potential for a space that can borderless, not controlled by one specific entity.   At first the internet was viewed as a place where a diverse community could have a forum for discussion of topics that affected everybody. (Kaan, 2005). This view quickly changed as its participants became labeled as uninformed, impulsive, and materialistic. (Kaan, 2005).  While social networks provide a place for free discussion of thought, their use has fallen to be undisciplined, intolerant, and superficial rather than deliberative.(Kaan,2005)  These has degraded principle of democracy first presented by the internet, where everybody would be treated the same.

While social networks have the potential to serve as a positive form of communication it has fallen short in becoming a place where everybody will be treated equally and have equal rights.  In Networks, Power, and Democracy, Saskia Sassen (2006) presents the idea that everybody can participate in principle in social Medias.  She later also mentions that a small group of bloggers receive the most attention.  We can conclude that while everybody can participate in social Medias, not everybody will get the same attention, therefore not treated equally.

Social networks have changed the way we communicate.  This does not imply that the change has been a positive one.  We see how to many times social networks are used to harass, humiliate, mock, and bully individuals, or groups.  Raquel Recuero in Digital Youth, Social Movements, and Democracy in Brazil, presents us we a simple example of how in Brazil someone on Facebook compared women to Facebook in a derogative manner. She also includes the fact that social media is exposing problems that were already existent in society.

Democracy is not going to be improved by giving more people a voice online.  It will be improved when the education and values that are transmitted to younger generations improve.  We cannot expect democracy to improve until the basic principle behind democracy, equal treatment for all, is carried out by the masses.