Changing the Channel: Use of the Internet for Communicating About Politics

Abstract

What a fascinating time forpolitical communication researchers. Rarelydoweget to witness the launch of a medium with such broad and sweeping potential to change significantly communication behavior. Not since the introduction of the television more than a half-century ago has there been such a flurry about a communication medium. Whether referred to as cyberspace, the Web, the information superhighway, or, more formally, the Internet, this new medium has linked the world through a shared, virtual space that brings a whole new meaning to McLuhan's (1964) con ceptualization of the global village.