you to examine the ways in which the Internet affects the election campaign process.

Yes , there is more ignorance , but there is also more opportunity to be heard , and there is less fear that an underlying bias is behind the source of every message

Essentially , the Internet has become a place of extremely open communication where millions of people are now going to get their information about politics and the election process . This openness has become the new driving force behind our democracy , and today 's presidential hopefuls have certainly taken notice of this , using the Internet to their advantage as often as they can . In

a YouGov America Survey of 3 ,500 internet users a week before the 2004 presidential elections , it was noted that about 12 of Americans who had internet access sent an e-mail on the elections , voters under the age of 24 trusted online media than the television , and even senior voters actively visited political websites ' or weblogs by politicians (Wheeler , 2004

Interestingly , there are many who are more conservative and skeptical about the impact of the Internet on democratic processess . For example there is supposedly a cultural divide between the people who use the Internet and those who do not , as some can afford it and some cannot Essentially , it is argued that there is an Internet class , and a non-Internet class of U .S . citizens - so what happens on the Internet is not a true representation of the country 's collective opinions and people (Shane , 2004 . However in an advanced economy wherein the Internet becomes a public good , this argument may no longer be tenable

There is also a question about the authenticity of the communication process because we can never be sure if we are dealing with genuine people or with those who are only taking advantage of the anonymity in the Internet . Users should also be...