E-Democracy and Network Externalities - The Case of Websites of Finnish Members of Parliament

Abstract : Effective communication between voters and members of parliament is a key success factor democracy. Fortunately, modern information technology is giving a lot of new channels to take care of this communication. Traditionally, Members of Parliament have maintained static www-sites, but nowadays more dynamic and interactive forms of communication, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter are almost a must for the Members of Parliament, especially in the case of less popular politicians. As in any technology application, even in www-presence of Members of Parliament network externalities occur: unexpected consequences of web-presence. This article sets out some preliminary concepts and ideas on what these network externalities might be.