After the Eurozone crisis, the problem rooted in the Spanish political system exposed and the population wanted to create an alternative democracy to replace the dominant one, a series of social...Show moreAfter the Eurozone crisis, the problem rooted in the Spanish political system exposed and the population wanted to create an alternative democracy to replace the dominant one, a series of social movements were initiated afterwards. This thesis aims to deliver an analysis regarding the influence of using cyberspace in a contemporary social movement, Acampada Sol (Occupying La Puerta del Sol). By applying the "Imagined Community" theory from Benedict Anderson, I found that the changing material condition and technological development would affect the way people participate in the social movement. Looking at the application of the latest online technology, Acampada Sol demonstrates a new way of doing social movements.Show less
The invention of the Web has influenced the world drastically. Talking in real-time to someone on the other side of the planet is no longer an issue. Also, consuming information has become a lot...Show moreThe invention of the Web has influenced the world drastically. Talking in real-time to someone on the other side of the planet is no longer an issue. Also, consuming information has become a lot easier and quicker; think about checking the weather or the news while you are waiting at the bus stop. Network technology has affected almost every part of our lives and therefore, expectations are high when it comes to what the Web can do more. Evidence are the many claims about the Web being a democratizing force in the case of politics for instance. The main question in this thesis is: To what extent does the Web as a thoroughly ‘democratic’ medium with its two-way traffic, helps the exchange of knowledge and thus is contributing to a democratic system in politics as much as its formal characteristics appear to promise? To answer this main question, this thesis will treat several questions first: What does a 'democratizing force' mean? And: What does it mean when someone claims the Web to be a democratizing force? With help from recent case studies, news articles and research in the field of new media, I tried to find answers to these questions.Show less
This thesis will examine what effects web 2.0 had on the likelihood of millennials to vote in the 2008 US presidential elections. To tackle this question millennials and their characteristics...Show moreThis thesis will examine what effects web 2.0 had on the likelihood of millennials to vote in the 2008 US presidential elections. To tackle this question millennials and their characteristics should be looked into. Since most of the people that use web 2.0 to get campaign information are people born between 1977 and 1994, consequentially the focus will be on this age group, also known as millennials or generation X (New Strategist Press 255). In fact 6 out of 10 millennials report that they use Facebook as their major source to get their campaign information (Mitchell, Gottfried and Matsa 2). Moreover, this thesis will cover how media in general can influence the public and what kind of effects a message can have. Media influencing theories such as coercion, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, framing, and the inoculation theory will be examined as well as what effects these could have on the public. By means of a literature review the effects of web 2.0 on the likelihood to vote will be touched upon. Thereby the concepts of political participation and political engagement will be clarified. The rise of web 2.0 up to the presidential elections of 2008 will also be explored. Again, by means of a literature review scholars’ view on the social media use during the 2008 presidential elections and the most frequently used social networking sites, or SNS, such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace will be examined. Subsequently, the actual social media campaign of presidential candidate Barack Obama has to be analyzed. This analysis will look at how the characteristics of millennials in combination with the discussed media influencing theories and the influence of web 2.0 affected the likelihood to vote among millennials. All this research will be done with the theory of cognitive dissonance in mind. Cognitive dissonance theory states that a person experiences dissonance, a feeling of emotional discomfort, whenever his or her actions and cognitions are in conflict and will seek to reduce this dissonance (Dickinson and Oxoby 297). What is expected is that due to the theory of cognitive dissonance people will tend to look up information that already fits their framework and will actively seek for affirmation with their peers, especially when confronted with this feeling of dissonance.Show less
De legitimiteit van de moderne democratie en de rol van politieke partijen staat regelmatig ter discussie en doet stof opwerpen over potentiële oplossingen. Door sommigen wordt het gebruik van...Show moreDe legitimiteit van de moderne democratie en de rol van politieke partijen staat regelmatig ter discussie en doet stof opwerpen over potentiële oplossingen. Door sommigen wordt het gebruik van sociale media (Web 2.0) gezien als revolutie in het communiceren van politieke partijen. In deze thesis wordt het gebruik van Twitter door politici in de aanloop naar de Europese Verkiezingen van 2014 geanalyseerd.Show less
