Internet gets political
6 July 2005
The internet played a bigger role in this year's UK election than in previous elections, but fell short of the kind of impact some analysts had predicted.
The Hansard Society's Spinning the Web study found that although use of the internet doubled for the last election, there has been no great breakthrough in its use.
One of the biggest criticisms of the report was that the internet was used by political parties to provide a one-way conversation.
People were given information but there was very often little opportunity for them to become involved in a dialogue with parties.
Stephen Coleman, professor in e-democracy at Oxford university, said: "There can be little doubt about the potential of the internet as a medium of democratic interactivity.
"But unless and until parties, politicians and pundits abandon the one-way conversation that has come to characterise contemporary politics, no amount of broadband gee-whizzery will save them from the collective yawns of the demos."
One area of growth of particular interest was the near tripling in the number of people who sent or received emails during the election.
This points to a move by voters to use the internet to discuss issues or intentions rather than solely as a source of information.
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