Torytube.ca and the Ontario 2007 Election: The Web 2.0 Politics of Embedded Political Video (original) (raw)

The claim that traditional political participation has been steadily declining (Wilkins 2000) needs to be re-evaluated in light of the rise of Internet-related means of social engagement. Ian Angus holds that democratic spaces, including new web spaces, are central to the health of a democracy (Angus, 2001). What are the democratic spaces and practices enabled by Web 2.0 in the context of Canadian political culture? How, if at all, has the recent proliferation of new media technology and techniques changed the nature of political agency and participation in Canadian politics? In particular, how do Canadian political leaders and established parties use Web 2.0? This paper uses cases from the recent provincial election in Ontario to explore how Canadian politicians structure public participation and political processes. Canadian politicians have recently engaged in Web 2.0 politics with videos and social networking sites to lampoon opponents and recruit supporters. These constructions shape the agency of the user and the public within their informational political campaigns. The paper examines the role of money, publicity, video satire, surveillance, and recruitment into overtly political associations on an Ontario Liberal video satire site called Torytube.ca. Politicians chose in this election to use the Internet as a back room for more controversial and viral campaigning, a strategy that allowed them to disavow dirty tactics in the mainstream media. Theoretically this paper compares the case of the Ontario Election to Philip N. Howard's notion of "thin citizenship" and Wendy Chun's notion of "software as ideology." How do the Web 2.0 developments of the recent Ontario election indicate the promotion of thin citizenship and appeal to default ideologies in Web practice?

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