NEW MEDIA AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

Author – Shreya Srivastava, Student at University of Allahabad

Best Citation – Shreya Srivastava, NEW MEDIA AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION, ILE Monthly Review, 1 (1) of 2023, Pg. 31-38, ISBN – 978-81-961828-8-5.

ABSTRACT

The present article analyses political modernity, or the transformation of politics under the impact of new media. Observing the change in dynamic concepts of politics and new media helps one to understand the implications of strong governance and new media dominance. This article sheds light on such political and  socio-cultural change in the age of new media systems. However, this study is done briefly and primarily focuses on issues due to this change, with a balanced analysis of its beneficial factors too. This transformation of media culture comes up with substantial issues in the political sphere as to how the dominance of new media creates a dilemma in politics, further empowering the potential of participation of the public without being actually in power, and the development of concepts such as “pop politics,” “echo chambers,” “political polarization,” and “political activism in new media.” The study further raises the question of how this new media is building a bridge to bring people into real politics, which is actually a double-edged sword. Moreover, the development of internet politics has raised the concern of the transfer of information without any limits, fact-checking, or filtering, and the question of how to know what is true and what is not without any editorial check and standards. The judicial aspect of new media has also been discussed, and to conclude, the future dilemma due to this change has also been put into shadow. The aim of this article is to enlighten readers with the above-mentioned concept and leave it to their discretion to conclude whether the dominance of new media in politics makes the political landscape a better or worse place than before. 

KEYWORDS: New media, political modernity, political polarization, social media, media culture, politics