How Internet Communication, and Social Media Influences Politics and Social Awareness in the World Essay

Introduction

The invention of the internet revolutionised politics and social awareness across the world. The social media has flourished immensely since the inception of the internet. The internet stimulated the formation of web communities. It is these communities that communities that created avenues for communication across the globe. The internet connection enables people to convey their information through the web.

Hence, the web provides an interactive forum where people can share ideas and opinions on any emerging issues. The discovery of the mobile phones connected with internet increased web accessibility to the majority of people worldwide. The media and the people can relay information in real time globally.

For instance, politicians have turned to social networks to bolster their campaigns. Further, crisis awareness is communicated instantly due to the use of the internet and social networks. It is factual that the first witnesses of a crisis are people on the scene who respond by posting the news on social networks. In a short period, as many people connect with the network, they get to know of the crisis. The significance of the widespread use of internet in politics and social media is the subject of my research project.

The Project Relevance, Objectives and Research Questions

The internet presents a platform where anyone can post views, news or any other material that may trigger a reaction from the public. The most inherent challenge in the use of the web is the determination of authentic information and its source. Some online users post alarming information on the web, yet their message is vague and false.

I found this trend disturbing. Hence, my research seeks to determine the influence of the internet communication on politics and crisis awareness. The project will focus on factual scenarios to depict the actual influence of internet communication on politics and social awareness. The research will seek to provide insights to the following research questions:

• How does internet communication influence politics?
• How does internet communication influence crisis awareness?

I will explore case scenarios to illustrate how internet communication has facilitated politics and crisis awareness. A number of political leaders have used the social network successfully in their campaigns across the globe. Further, the social networks have been used to successfully remove governments from power, as well as agitating for reforms.

The Scope and Depth of Project

The internet is a tool that has interlinked all parts of the world. There is quick access to information from all over the world. Hence, my research will use the documented information to determine my findings. Research on various political developments is elaborately documented. Hence, it will form the basis of my analysis. The project will be limited to the research questions and research objective.

Data Presentation Methodology

The research will be a report analysis highlighting all the relevant information on the research questions. Statistical analysis using time series analysis and SPSS will be applied in the analysis of data. Further, graphs, tables and pie charts will serve to tabulate numerical data. The final report will be in a power point form. The choice of power point enables the audience to follow up the presentation from their personal computers.

Limitations to the Research

Research on the internet communication is extensive and varied. The enormous data documented in the web would take a long time to be collected and analyzed. Further, the challenge of authenticating the accuracy of the available information is a huge impediment to the research. The project will also be limited to the research questions and the research objective.

Use of Internet as a Social technology of Communication

The internet is an imperative platform in the establishment of online communities. It has been extensively implemented in crisis awareness globally. For instance, the terror attack in the Twin Towers of Washington in September 2001 stimulated an outpour of emotions and reactions throughout the world. Internet communication was used enormously to inform people of the attack and the victims of the blast.

The blast destroyed mobile communication systems. Hence, the internet was the main tool for communication. This later advanced into the formation of social networks powered by the internet. Presently, a majority of people are connected to various social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Social networks have been successfully utilised in crisis awareness. However, the main challenge to the administrators of these social networks is the sharing of alarming false information over the internet. For instance, unethical bloggers may post false alerts on a looming terror attack. This will cause panic and or affect trade and other government operations. For instance, in February 2003, a message circulated in China warning people of an outbreak of a pneumonia strain.

The internet was used extensively to spread this alert. The government of China was reluctant to declare the presence of the virus although the public had published about the virus through the internet. The government later acknowledged the presence of the virus. Nevertheless, unfortunately, it decided to censure all internet communication. This illustrates the impact of internet communication in crisis awareness.

The recent political developments were dominated by campaigns driven through the internet. For instance, the presidential election of 2008 in the United States was synonymous with the use of the internet. For instance, the Democratic Party used the social networks to harness the youth across America. They also used the internet and the social networks to communicate their manifesto and interact with the voters.

The democratic parties raised funds for the campaign by prudently using the social networks. The analysis of the election points out to the extensive use of the internet. The inception of the mobile technology that incorporates the internet accessibility has brought the online community within reach.

This phenomenon fuelled the historic political uprisings in the Northern part of Africa. Frustrated citizens in Tunisia and Egypt staged historic and organised protests that ultimately resulted to change of governments in those particular countries. This shows the potential of the internet in collaborating and interlinking online communities to pursue topical issues. These findings expressly outline the impact of internet as a social communication tool in politics and crisis awareness.

Personal Evaluation

This project has provided me with a practical experience to the theoretical understanding of the course work. Scholarly research projects require professional approach to issues with the intention of making findings. For instance, my project to determine the influence of internet communication in politics and crisis awareness forced me to research widely for documented data.

I discovered that I have an impeccable ability to discern and analyze issues in various contexts. I extensively consulted the online library with extreme success. The writing of the research paper enabled me to appreciate the format adopted for scholarly issues. After preparing the research paper, I discovered that the format aided the researcher in presenting the paper in an orderly manner. I thought that writing a research paper was a difficult assignment, but the course work has helped me to learn the skill.

Project research is very informative since it exposes a researcher to a plethora of information about the research topic. A research project also stimulates the analytical and creative mind of the researcher to make out the critical and important information for research. The paper has triggered my realisation that I have enormous capability to do scholarly research with the required professionalism.

Milestones Achieved

The project exposed me to the reality of scholarly research papers. It provided me with insight to appreciate the requirements for a scholarly research paper. I learned to use the proper tense throughout my research proposal. For instance, when referring to previous literature, I used past tense. Further, I used present tense to refer to the theoretical framework and the tools of the research. Lastly, on the use of tenses, I used the future tense throughout my paper for the project proposal.

I have also discovered the importance of proper in-text citations and references to scholarly research work. Proper referencing enables researchers to avoid plagiarism in their papers. Proper referencing portrays accuracy of information of your research paper. As professional, acknowledgement of other professionals’ work is ethical and professional. The research project helped me to master the required research format suitable for research papers.

Lastly, I discovered the importance of expressing my thoughts by writing precisely and clearly. A properly written paper should communicate the purpose of the research clearly.

The importance of the writing style is of extreme value. I learnt of the various writing styles that are applicable in research papers and there appropriateness to various research topics. It is, therefore, imperative to use the relevant writing style depending on its suitability on the topic of research. I learned to apply the highlighted parameters more effectively than before I did the project.

The Internet as a Social Technology of Communication

I have learned that the internet is an enormous discovery that supports social communication. The internet provides connectivity to online information, hence, forming a formidable and real time communication infrastructure. The internet has made it possible for the establishment of online communities. The online communities engage in interactive forums over the internet when connected to a server. Trained people in computer programing and web design form the online communities.

They create websites, blog spots and other social sites that provide a platform of engagement over the internet. The project identified some of the ways through which the internet has revolutionised politics and crisis awareness. For instance, various people raise issues over the internet that eventually triggers widespread debate. The establishment of social sites such as Facebook and Twitter has attracted tremendous membership of users worldwide.

Hence, postings on the social networks reach out to many people instantaneously. As per my research findings, the political uprisings in Northern Africa are a testimony to the use of internet in popularising issues. Further, the extensive use of the internet in conducting campaigns in the 2008 elections in the United States shows the significance of the internet in the world. I further learnt the importance of the internet in the sourcing of information for research.

The internet is an archive where information is stored and can be retrieved at any time for use. I learnt on how to effectively use the electronic library for my research. I further discovered that the internet communication is prone to erroneous misrepresentation of facts and hence the need for caution on the information found on the internet.

Another issue that I found on the use of the internet is plagiarism. The availability of enormous amounts of information on the internet may expose researchers to plagiarism. The originality of research papers is tremendously compromised by the accessibility to other research works on the topic.

Conclusion

Scholarly project proposals follow a designated procedure that should be adopted. Successful projects should be precise and concise. My research project was about determining the influence of internet communication on politics and crisis awareness. Therefore, based on the expositions made in the paper, it is evident that people, institutions, and even the entire world have benefited much through the services that the internet offers.

Internet has found a lot of use by marketing organisations as a working strategy to advertise their goods and services, as well as politicians as a campaigning tool. Worth noting, I found out the immense application of the internet in both politics and crisis awareness. The internet is providing instant communication infrastructure due to the online communities.

However, the major challenge of online communication is the availability of unauthenticated and false information that misrepresents facts. Nevertheless, internet communication is an enormously influential communication technique.