Media Groups and Politics

I know in class we've had a lot of discussion concerning the formation of groups through new media resources. This is a very interesting topic for me in particular because I am a politics minor and there is a good amount of crossover into my politics class this semester. The amount that media has impacted the election process is tremendous. It was a large part of Obama's campaign. The democratic party chose to embrace new media by forming accounts on facebook and twitter. They were able to reach a whole new demographic, including younger and first time voters. Also, the use of social networking sites enabled the campaign to form groups more easily and faster than ever. People could get involved in the campaigning by volunteering or donating with the click of a button. This helped reach more people and build Obama's coalition. I think that this is a real life example of the borders that group formation online is breaking. The entire campaigning world is changing because of the internet and specifically social networking sites. I think its just really interesting to see how politicians are molding themselves to fit the times and how active people can become in their own way. Any citizen can now have an active role in a campaign effort from the comforts of their own home. Groups are taking on all new capabilities as forces to be reckoned with, much like they did in the Shirky article.