The Impact of the Internet on the Personal Life of a Politician

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“The impact of the Internet on the personal life of a politician” The Internet has become a notable part of politics since the late 1990s. There have been many intense debates regarding the impact of the Internet on politics. Politicians have become like “Movie Stars” in that everyone is interested in their every move. No longer can one go out in public without some type of curiosity in their activities. Becoming a public servant means that you must put the public’s interests ahead of your own. Generally, if a private matter affects the performance of one’s duties, most would agree that it is no longer private. One case in point would be the story of Congressman Anthony Weiner. Congressman Weiner, a Democratic senator from New York, used the social media website Twitter to send sexually suggestive pictures to a 21year old woman from Seattle. He denied media reports for several days that he had posted the pictures. Of course, due largely in part to the Internet, and calls from his colleagues in congress, He announced his resignation on June 16, 2011. Had it not been for social media, which is linked to the Internet, Weiner probably would have not have resigned nor would have his exploits been discovered. The Internet has a huge impact on the personal lives of politicians. Many argue that without the internet, President Obama never would have won the 2008 Democratic nomination, much less the presidency. When he entered the race in 2007, many considered him a long shot. But what his campaign did very well was use technology available to them, i.e., the Internet. This allowed the relatively unknown candidate to connect with millions of voters via social media, including Facebook, Twitter and his own campaign web site. With his deft use of social media, Barack Obama is now on his second term as president of the United States. One could argue that the Internet had a

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