Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed the critical improvement of new media forms; from their emergence as the traditional media like newspapers offering one-way communication and delayed feedback, they have grown and are now used by millions as a powerful and interactive communication tool. Varied media platforms are converging into single chip devices which are portable and connecting citizens with the public sphere. The topic of this paper addresses a potent topic in the future of democracy. This paper will look at how democracy and political participation is being influenced by new media. This will be done with the critical examination of the ‘social media movements’, populist movements and ‘political communication’ that happened over the internet in the recent past. Even when political communication specialists are keenly observant of the extent to which new media is affecting politics through the creation of a ‘digital democracy’, our traditional democratic systems continue to perform as though unaware of the invasion of technology into everyday lives. With traditional democratic channels having lost the interest of the people, new media is not merely creating an ‘informed audience’ but in turn involving them in a socio-political debate. Information and Communication technology, though in its stage of infancy has huge scope in the future of democracy through social media platforms by offering ways to engage in civic activism.