THE TEMASEK REVIEW

In 2008, Dr James Gomez published his PhD thesis from Monash University, Melbourne, entitled “Democracy and Elections: The Impact of Online Politics in Singapore”.

In his doctorial dissertation, Dr Gomez argued that the current electoral system in Singapore is impervious to the impact of the internet. Basing his analysis on voting patterns and electoral results over the past three general elections in 1997, 2001 and 2006, Dr Gomez drew the conclusion that there was no correlation between the use of the internet by various Opposition parties and their performance at the polls. This is despite the fact that internet penetration in Singapore has risen from 14% in 1997 to 71% in 2006.

In spite of this sobering find, I respectfully question not the accuracy, but the relevancy of Dr James Gomez’s research in the current situation, given that internet technologies have evolved rapidly since the 2006 general elections and have been successfully exploited by the blogsophere, resulting in alternative media potentially gaining significant mindshare from traditional media.

At a presentation on the developments and future outlook of the local blogosphere held at NUS Bukit Timah Campus on 3 March, Mr Tan Tarn How, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), explained that the local blogosphere has gone through three distinct phases of development.

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