Online action in campaign 2000: an exploratory analysis of the U.S. political web sphere

This study examines the nature of political action on and between election-oriented Web sites during the 2000 election season in the United States, based on Web materials and interviews with political Web producers. Our analysis focuses on 3 facets of online action: coproduction, carnival, and mobilization. We suggest these portend an evolution of political communication, and we point to ways in which the 2000 political Web re-shaped the U.S. electoral process. Through this article we seek to contribute to the emerging literatures on Web studies in general and on the role of the Internet in electoral politics.
The current trend in both popular and scholarly discourse is to downplay, if not reject outright, the revolutionary impact of the Internet on democracy. This argument suggests that politics on [...]