Towner, T. L. (2012). Campaigns and elections in a web 2.0 world: Uses, effects, and implications for democracy. In Web 2.0 Technologies and Democratic Governance (pp. 185-199). Springer, New York, NY.
The journal discusses the use of social media in America’s presidential elections in light of Obama’s 2008 campaigns. The campaign was considered the most successful in the history of the United States due to its application of various Web 2.0 tools that include YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook amongst others. The tools served several functions including soliciting funds and targeting voters. The author further intimates that the success that came with social media use led to more candidates across the globe to utilize social media for their campaigns. The journal attempts to assess the importance of Web 2.0 devices such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and MySpace in the course of the election campaigns. It further seeks to investigate how the Web 2.0 tools influence the political knowledge of the citizens, government participation, and cynicism. Most fundamentally, the author summarizes the positive influence that the web 2.0 devices have on the democratic discourse in the nation. One of the ways that the author clearly discusses is how the tools have revolutionized communication during campaigns and how they have played a significant role in disseminating political information.
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Reddick, C. G., & Aikins, S. K. (Eds.). (2012). Web 2.0 technologies and democratic governance: Political, policy and management implications (Vol. 1). Springer Science & Business Media.
The book begins by first addressing what entails the web 2.0. The author asserts that it involves social media and other internet works such as blogs, photos, social networking, and file sharing sites. Web 2.0 continues to revolutionize citizen to citizen and government to citizen interaction in a way never witnessed before. The book explores explicitly the role of web 2.0 in shaping politics today and how the interaction described has developed political campaigns in the last few years. The book addresses not only how the web 2.0 has influenced politics, but also how it has led to a new culture known as the e-democracy. E-democracy has provided various online platforms such as social media sites and YouTube amongst others which have improved the interaction between politicians and the citizens. More important is that the interaction occurs in real-time thus enhancing democracy in the country as the candidates are in a better position to understand what their supporters want out of them. The author further draws a comparison between web 2.0 and web 1.0 which was deemed ineffective due to its one-sided nature.
Miller, K. (2014). The Electronic Election--Web 2.0 Technology and Political Campaigns. VCU Scholars Compass
The author discusses the recent influence that the Web 2.0 technologies have had on the political realm. The tools have played a significant role not only in the political parties but also in improving civic engagement. The presidential campaigns in the United States have significantly utilized these platforms, and the author opines that the chances are high that this trend will likely influence the future political landscape. With the emergence of the millennial generation in the political arena, various forms of Web 2.0 will supplement the traditional ways of campaign. However, the author asserts that scholars have differed how these tools will be used in advancing political endeavors. Apparently, the use of individual Web 2.0 devices is likely to enhance political efficiency as each tool has its unique way of supplementing the traditional campaign methods. For instance, the use of social media plays a significant role maximizes grass root campaigns. Facebook and candidate's websites have facilitated communication and other activities such as a fundraiser. Therefore, future candidates will have to adopt the Web 2.0 technologies in a bid to improve their competitiveness.
