Power for the People
p2p news / p2pnet: Researchers at America’s Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California Annenberg School have reached a conclusion that’s already well-known to anyone who spends any time online:
The Net means you have control.
Nearly 40% of US surfers polled agreed, or strongly agreed, with the statement, "By using the Internet, people like you can have more political power," says CNET News, quoting from the paper.
And, "That tally is several points higher than last year, according to the report," it says, going on:
"Political empowerment ‘means the ability to actually have an impact, and not just gain insight or knowledge,’ Jeffrey Cole, the project’s director, said in a conference call with reporters.
The findings come as the prospect of campaign finance rules being extended to the Internet continues to draw outcry from politicians and bloggers, says the story.
"These groups have touted the grassroots, democratizing merits and low cost barriers of Net-based politicking. Despite this, a measure that would have exempted Net activity from campaign finance rules was shot down in the U.S. House of Representatives last month."
But, "Internet users’ confidence in the information they find online has declined for three years in a row," adds CNET.
"The percentage of survey subjects who responded that they believe "most" of what they encounter is reliable and accurate dipped to 46.8 percent this year, from a peak level of 56.1 percent during the 2001 study."
Also read:-
CNET News – Web gives power to the people, surfers say, December 7, 2005
