So Long and Farewell!

Here is the Link to My Homepage:

http://itrs.scu.edu/faculty/mbousquet/spring07/english138/aclendeninn_spr07/index.htm

And this one will take you to my final Hyptertext project:

http://itrs.scu.edu/faculty/mbousquet/spring07/english138/aclendeninn_spr07/politics_nm.html

Please feel free to enjoy or not enjoy them at your leisure. Oh yeah and Have a Great SUMMER!!!

My Hypertext project is on the use of New Media in the political sector and the effects and implications of its use on the individual consumer/voter.

As a society we are on the precipice a time of increased integration of different forms of media. In the last few years we have seen an explosion of vastly popular social networking websites such as mySpace and Facebook. In conjunction with this trend online digital media has become less expensive and represents now a veritable playground of possibilities of expression. The major player in this arena is YouTube, a video sharing website that allows its users to upload and download and share amateur and professionally made video free of charge.

With these two phenomenons sweeping popular culture across all age demographics the range and possibilities of user made multimedia seems endless. Some of the newest players to explore some of the possibilities of New Media are politicians. With the 2008 Presidential election coming up the candidates are turning to this newly popular arena with a wide range of goals. They are utilizing video sharing sites like YouTube and social networking sites to bring in more revenue for campaign funding and also as a way to avail themselves to a society of younger Americans who no longer get their news from the television.

One of the burning questions surrounding this shift from the TV to the internet is what will this hold for the future of political campaigning. The issue that I will explore on this hypertextual journey is the way that the rise of New Media has altered the conception of the individual. And what affect this “new individual” will have on preexisting political constructs as politicians attempt to assimilate to the changing culture.