Cancer Group, Reversing Course, Says It Will Maintain Planned Parenthood Funding →
tdl:
This, combined with the recent reversal of congressional attitudes towards SOPA raises some questions…
Are we entering a new era where the public outrage can quickly guide the direction of governments and corporations? Or is this just a more efficient flavor of things seen many times before?
If this is fundamentally something new— how will it affect our future? Can this sort of impact be utilized not only to thwart bad decisions, but to also rapidly spark new policies? Will it reduce the importance placed on representation, bringing us closer to a true democracy? Will large pools of experts, for example doctors have new influence? Will the lobbyists turn towards creating public opinion more than swaying legislators? Is this something we should welcome or fear?
It’s all about information! Increased information velocity has changed the world just like how velocity of money increased with modern banking tools and changed the economic world. Gone are the days when imperfect information limited the voice of the commoners. People are realizing that, unlike the entirety of history, they are able to access information no matter what obstacles are put in their way, and have increased access to their representatives.
And yet… do I think this will change politics? No. Once this stops being a novel concept, mass media will start ignoring it. (“200,000 people sign online petition to _______”? Not newsworthy.) And once the media ignores it, there will be little incentive for representatives to do respond if it is difficult.
There are, of course, a few notable exceptions: Reddit has mobilized to support Rob Zerban for 1st district of Wisconsin, but come the day to vote, will this mobilization still exist? Other than a clogged inbox, until congresspeople start leveraging internet people for tangible gain.
Long run I think this will be a new era of accountability and representation, but not short or medium run.
Thanks for the fast response! But I respectfully disagree. Hear me out.
I don’t this phenomenon is about information. It seems to be less about users of the web ingesting information, and more about using to make a change. Perhaps the US realized that if the Internet can propel an Arab Spring, it might be able to flush out some bad ideas in Congress.
A few months ago, there was a lot of uproar about the discussions going on in Congress about Planned Parenthood funding, and Jon Kyl made ‘pants-on-fire’ false comments about abortion funding. While his office did address the false comments after getting some kickback from the public and the media, he didn’t change his position. Maybe this latest SOPA ordeal showed politicians and institutions that Internet and media uproar does matter. Its early to tell, but it really could be an important precedent for US citizens pushing bills in or out of Congress.
I don’t think the media will stop taking notice of public (internet-driven) reactions altogether. There might be a different threshold— in the same way that the news covers only those youtube videos that are exceptionally viral. And with people increasingly getting their news from aggregators that tailor to their interests, the activation energy to getting a lot of fired up people might not be all that high.
