Internet Lobbying, Essay Example

When democracy first emerged in the ancient city-states, it was indeed a government by the people. Those, who had a privilege to be citizens, could directly influence the decision-making process, making sure that their interests were met. With the emergence of new ‘social’ media, the people received a change to get truly involved again. Internet increasingly penetrates into personal communication, education, professional activities, entertainment, and, especially, into politics. Easy to edit web-pages, blogs, forums, live journals, social networks provide new mechanisms for lobbying, changing its nature completely. In this paper, it is argued that, with the growing popularity of new media, Internet-lobbying will become the most successful form of lobbying, therefore, it will be necessary to draw a distinct line between legal and illegal activities.

Robert Keohan and Joseph Nye stress that the politics influenced the information revolution as much as the information revolution influenced the politics (77). The politicians widely use new technologies and encourage their further development and improvement. Even if their goal is purely utilitarian, the society benefits from it greatly as people receive more opportunities to control the government and express their preferences. Lobbyists as key actors in any political system cannot ignore such a powerful resource thus turning to the new media as well.

In his book “Electronic whistle-stops: the impact of the Internet on American politics”, Gary Selnow believes that the main characteristics of Internet (speed, low cost, flexibility, and interactivity) make it a main tool for communication between political citizens and leaders (107). Lobbyists as the ‘masters’ of persuasion can serve as moderators, interpreting the messages, sent by the public to the politicians, and vice versa. As a result, Internet lobbying can be defined as distribution of key messages through Internet communication tools with a main purpose to persuade a certain target audience to support or oppose particular political decision to be made.

Internet-lobbying, as almost any political phenomenon, has its supporters and opponents. One of the most notable advantages of online lobbying, in comparison to lobbying through traditional media, is the low cost of information dissemination. It is rather accessible for newly established lobbying groups and organizations as well as for ordinary people who want to start a campaign for or against certain political decision. Articles on the web-sites and posts on social networks and blogs are significantly cheaper that articles in newspapers or appearances on TV. Traditional media are rarely able to provide sufficient amount of airtime or space in newspapers to stress all aspects of the issue while it is easy to add a variety of photos, different facts, comments, and videos through the Internet. This tool is especially important in third-world and authoritarian countries. Internet is harder to control than traditional media as the people can spread the news instantly.

In addition, Internet allows personalizing politics to some extent. Traditional media serve as a source of information that flows only in one direction – from the media to the audience. New media create an interactive two-way model of communication. Any person can find out the news whenever is more convenient for him or her and, moreover, create the content themselves.  Chat-rooms, online discussions, and forums provide a floor for direct communication with the source of information, asking questions and receiving answers immediately. It creates the impression of intimacy with the lobbyists who spreads the information.

On the other hand, new media can help lobbyists personalize their appeals to the public through differentiation of their messages to the target group. For instance, the lobbyists, seeking to preserve a park in a city, can address young mothers at a forum for young mothers, demonstrating that they might lose a playground for their children. Young people can be mobilized through social networks with the use of completely different argument – they will lose a place to hang out with their friends. A message that the runners will be deprived of the place for exercising can be posted on a sport web-site etc.

There are several significant examples of successful Internet lobbying. First of all, it is human rights activist Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A housewife started a campaign to ban landmines online, engaging more than thousands environmental, human rights, woman rights, religious organization to support her. Idaho Business Review tells about a lobbying campaign against beer and wine tax. A web-site against such tax was created with 1,500 followers in two weeks. As a result, the tax legislation was never passed.

Despite all advantages, Internet lobbying has as well some drawbacks. The main one is that the lobbyists lose some traditional mechanisms of persuasion – visual and verbal. The recipient does not see the person, who conveys the information, and has no emotional contact. The lobbyists do not have the opportunity to use gestures, change of pitch, pauses etc to convince the public. Internet lobbyists cannot rely on personal contacts or connections. All that is available in this case is pure information. The contest of connections and motivation gives way to competition of information.

Easy access to any information through the Internet can be a drawback as well. The audience may be overloaded by the plurality of views, factual information, photo and video materials. It leads to fragmentation of information and further atomization of society. Furthermore, the lobbyists may follow the temptation to use some personal information, available of the Internet, for their own purposes. The facts can be manipulated with, and it can be impossible to find and punish the guilty.

Consequently, effective governance is impossible without competent and professional lobbyists, capable of serving as mediators between the public and the authorities. The lobbyists, in order to be professional and effective, need to learn how to employ new media in their activities. Internet lobbyism is becoming the most successful form of lobbying therefore it is essential to draw a distinct line between legal and illegal activities.

References

“Commentary: Internet revolutionizes lobbying tactics.” Idaho Business Review, Boise (2009). Web. 5 Nov. 2010.

Cary, Mary Kate. “5 Ways New Media Are Changing Politics.” politics.usnews.com. Politics: Opinion. 04 Feb. 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2010.

Keohane, R. O., Nye, J.S. “Power and Interdependence in the Information Age”. Foreign Affairs 77.5 (1998): 81-94. Web. 05 Nov. 2010.

Selnow, Gary. Electronic Whistle-Stops: The Impact of the Internet on American Politics. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998. Print.