Is eBay the future of Web politics?
Published: 13 Dec 2004 11:45 GMT
To Cohen, the reason why eBay has been so successful is linked inextricably to the morals expressed on the company's business card-size ideology outline. The values card, the brainchild of company founder Pierre Omidyar, includes reminders that people are generally good, that they usually treat others the way they wish to be treated, and that the company strives to foster an open, honest environment among its customers.
The satisfaction of eBay users is almost solely dependent on the integrity of other members of the site; consumers buy and sell goods based on an honour system that demands accurate descriptions of items for sale and the promise to pay for goods purchased. If eBay members didn't trust in this system, the company never would have made it, Cohen said.
Newmark echoed the sentiment of creating mutual faith between sites and customers. He said the success of Craigslist, an advertising-free classifieds site in which eBay now holds a 25 percent stake, could be channelled into Internet politics.
"It's an issue of moral values," Newmark said. "People want to know the truth and be treated fairly -- that's the American dream."
Newmark acknowledged that people can still be misled by politicians' false promises, even after being fed a diet of legitimate ideals. But as with deceptive business practices, he believes the facts usually surface to expose those who are untruthful. Newmark added that to truly impress voters, politicians must make their online campaigns seem as if they are genuinely trying to engage people's opinions, not just attract their votes or donations.
Dyson observed that while the notion of building trust on the Web is key to furthering online politics, the utopian idea of a "global village" where people are completely upfront with each other is "implausible". However, she agreed that sites such as eBay and Craigslist make up a valuable template for politicians as they search for ways to attract supporters online.
"eBay itself is politics," Dyson said. "It changes how people view themselves in relation to institutions. The sense of empowerment is the same as in viewing politics online, and the idea of sharing feedback gives people a sense of empowerment. The major difference is that business is about controlling information, and politics is about disseminating information."
Hossein Derakhshan, also known as "Hoder", or the "Iranian blogger", discussed the rise of Web logs in his native country of Iran and the level of trust that people put in such sites as opposed to the government or media.
While Derakhshan has moved to Toronto, Ontario, he still operates a Web page dedicated to the politics of change in Iran. He said younger Iranians have used blogs to share information and opinions that would not be allowed to air via his country's state-controlled media outlets. However, he noted that just as the blogging phenomenon has taken off, Iranian officials have begun to target the sites.
"The Internet has become the most trusted medium [in Iran], over the press, television and everything else," Derakhshan said. "The government has total control of the media, and blogs can change this to become windows to the outside world. But the government has already become frustrated by the lack of control it has over blogs. They've begun telling people that these sites are funded by the CIA to undermine the [Iranian] regime, and people are being arrested."
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