The Internet and Politics: Transformation of Political Communication

Perceived as a professional process in modern democracies, political communication is the interdisciplinary study of the interrelationships between the political system, the media system and citizenship and mainly concerned with how information spreads through media influences politics. The emergence of fast evolving digital technologies has changed the way in which political communication takes considering a wide range of new opportunities and strategies allowing political actors and citizens to rebuild the process. The internet has removed the limitations of conventional media through providing an interactive platform for discussion and debate and changing the relationship between information producers and consumers. Political parties and actors can directly address their voters through their websites and use online communication platforms in election campaigns for their political goals. On the other hand, traditional political acts such as demonstration marches and rallies can be organized through online facilities offered by the Internet. This study focuses on mediated political communication and the changes related to the inclusion of information and communication technologies in politics and the use of digital technologies by political actors in Turkey to achieve their political purposes.