Impact of Web-Based Communication on Public and Policies

Impact of Web-Based Communication on Public and Policies
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Politics and the media are like two inseparable twins. One is always the fuel of the other. They are complementary and supplementary depending on the circumstances. The web has continuously played an essential role in the generation and advancement of public opinion, especially since the advent of the digital age. There is an entirely new preference for the use of the web in discussing and generation of views, based on the views expressed by its users.With the increased use of social media by the current generation, it is even easier to read through the temperament and reactions of people on a given issue. This also applies, to the case of policies. When it comes to the formulation of policies, a lot of social factors come into play, with web-based communication a major one. Web-based communication in conjunction with social media is likely to have a huge impact on the general perceptions of the public, which in turn also affects the process of formulating policies.
The effectiveness of any government is hugely dependent on the efficiency of its communication strategies. An informed public will help the government in clearly knowing what kind of policies will be helpful in the long run, and vice versa. This helps not only in the formulation of new ones but also scrapping off or amendment of the earlier ones. The social media has even made it even easier for information to flow(Jacobs & Druckman,2015).Through the use of wikis, blogs, social networking sites and podcasts, it is now seamless for many –to-many form of communication. Social media has facilitated the connection of individuals to their political as well as democratic institutions. It is the duty of the mass media to keep the public abreast with the goings-on in the corridors of power of their nation, as well as the world over.
The media not only facilitates the information sharing, but it also plays a significant role in framing the information in such a way that it is placed in the exact timeframe and context, to have a given effect on its target audience. It is particularly a technique that politics uses either for or against its plans. The manner in which information is packaged by the media plays a very crucial role in how the public receives and perceives it. For example, media can help communicate some important bit of information that will assist in the formulation or propagation of policy. On the other hand, the media can also be twisted, and hence also turn the information to the public, either for or against a certain piece of legislation. In a nutshell, the media and web-based communication might become tools for the propagation of propaganda about individual policies (Tenhunen & Karvelyte, 2015).
In this manner, the media and any other web-based communication play a role in setting the agenda. By having the power to alter the moods of the public through print and the internet, they have an upper hand in advancing particular interests. In the formulation of policies and making any other political moves, the leadership of a given nation relies on the reaction of the public ...