Dynamic Linking of Political Discourse: The New Party Line

I mean party line like the ‘old days’ on a telephone–no political pun intended. A colleague sent around this Presidential Watch 08 Map of the Political Blogosphere. I like it because it shows the interrelatedness and dynamic linking of professional and nonprofessional discourse on the Internet. It is a wonderful–and aesthetically beautiful–example of the integration of information technology with information distribution. We are no longer having conversations in isolation, we are on the ultimate party line, albeit with radical improvements from when my Grandmother used to holler at eavesdroppers to get off the line. We can all hear what each other has to say, professionals and nonprofessionals alike, without risking the wrath of my grandmother. And as this mapping shows, everyone does listen to everyone. The flows do not go only one way.

When we are using the internet to watch internet information flows, it is no longer about the technology, it’s about people and what they have to say. When it’s about people, it’s about psychology. As information technologies become increasingly ubiquitous in all parts of our lives, the technology will recede from the process. Digital connectivity will become another utility, like electricity, that enables people to live, learn, earn, and connect in new and exciting ways. And that’s what media psychology is all about.