The Internet and Online Political Communities in Singapore

Abstract

The emergence and the widespread adoption of the Internet have brought about many dramatic changes on different levels. Due to its inherent characteristics, the Internet has become an engine of political mobilization and participation, and has led to the proliferation of online communities. Few studies examine how political groups use the Internet to build communities and forge alliances in cyberspace, and this study attempts to bridge this gap. Registered political parties and political expression groups in Singapore were selected for this study. Through hyperlink analysis, the study shows that reciprocity and similarity, two main characteristics observed in online communities, were found in the groupings formed by these political groups. Interestingly, most of the online affiliations that exist among these groups reflect those offline.

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