ABSTRACT

Joseph Morris's e-mail campaign showed that the Internet in the hands of an average individual with a bone to pick is a powerful instrument. What should give all of us pause, and a sense of hope for the use of the Internet in civic engagement, is that Joseph Morris is just one of over 150 million Internet users in the United States, and every one of them has a bone to pick. Neither the media nor the candidates used the Internet effectively for interacting with voters, essentially short-circuiting any chance they had of truly connecting with the online electorate. The exchanges that occurred between people on the Internet showed evidence of honesty, trust, and reciprocity, and the individuals involved often expressed heartfelt attachments to each other. The resulting relationships yielded tangible benefits to both the individual and the group and in many cases had some notable political outcome.