The myth of digital democracy /
Is the Internet democratizing American politics? Do political Web sites and blogs mobilize inactive citizens and make the public sphere more inclusive? "The Myth of Digital Democracy" reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the Internet has done little to broaden political discourse but...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Princeton :
Princeton University Press,
©2009.
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| Series: | Book collections on Project MUSE.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to this title online (unlimited users allowed) |
| Summary: | Is the Internet democratizing American politics? Do political Web sites and blogs mobilize inactive citizens and make the public sphere more inclusive? "The Myth of Digital Democracy" reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the Internet has done little to broaden political discourse but in fact empowers a small set of elites - some new, but most familiar. Matthew Hindman argues that, though hundreds of thousands of Americans blog about politics, blogs receive only a miniscule portion of Web traffic, and most blog readership goes to a handful of mainstream, highly educated professionals. He shows how, despite the wealth of independent Web sites, online news audiences are concentrated on the top twenty outlets, and online organizing and fund-raising are dominated by a few powerful interest groups. Hindman tracks nearly three million Web pages, analyzing how their links are structured, how citizens search for political content, and how leading search engines like Google and Yahoo! funnel traffic to popular outlets. He finds that while the Internet has increased some forms of political participation and transformed the way interest groups and candidates organize, mobilize, and raise funds, elites still strongly shape how political material on the Web is presented and accessed. "The Myth of Digital Democracy" debunks popular notions about political discourse in the digital age, revealing how the Internet has neither diminished the audience share of corporate media nor given greater voice to ordinary citizens. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xiii, 181 pages) : illustrations |
| Format: | Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-171) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781400837496 1400837499 1282964674 9781282964679 |