Hyperlinking: Motives and Consequences

While blogs and Internet sites in parts of Asia represent an area of conflicting thought as to whether censorship is acceptable, and to what extent it may be, political hyperlinking in particular also presents an area of debate. Many nations throughout the world have long established regulations and restrictions on old media, such as newspapers and television, but they are capable of doing this in part through experience and by peering through the lens of history. New media, however, has only begun to emerge as a force in the international realm of media. There may be insufficient information concerning new media for governments and politicians to know how to deal with it. By examining recent developments in hyperlinking, particularly those of Assembly Members in South Korea, it appears that some of the factors shaping hyperlinking habits include cultural norms, the threat of being held accountable for content on hyperlinked sites, and events that have recently transpired and continue to shape the early history of hyperlinking.

To begin, South Korea exemplifies a nation that seems to contain politicians that do not take full advantage of hyperlinking. The government entities in South Korea, particularly the Assembly members in the country, tend to outlink to other government sources. Assembly Members seem reluctant to outlink to outside groups, such as civic advocacy groups. According to research conducted by Han Woo Park, Mike Thelwall, and Randolph Kluver, the top four types of websites that Assembly Members outlinked to belonged to various political parties, national assemblies, local governments and central governments. On the other hand, Assembly Members tended to outlink much less to newspapers, broadcasting companies, magazines, and unofficial research groups. Even Internet newspapers, Internet magazines, and Internet broadcasting companies were largely ignored. These differences in outlinking were quite significant as well. Whereas the top four outlinked types of sites were each linked to by anywhere from 60% to 86% of Assembly Members, all other outlinked types of sites were linked to by less than 34% of Assembly Members.

Why, then, are politicians in South Korea relying so heavily on outlinking to government sources rather than non-government sources? This deficiency of hyperlinks to non-government sources is representative of tendency for Assembly members to "put more emphasis on attracting new supporters, rather than mobilizing existing supporters". It is ironic that the Assembly Members, let alone any politicians in general, would not be very interested in mobilizing their supporters. Recruiting new supporters is, of course, a basic way to gain support. However, mobilizing existing supporters is a more advanced way of gaining support. By mobilizing supporters, politicians can, in a sense, have their work done for them. This is because supporters that are more engaged, interested, and active are more likely to recruit new members and spread the messages that politicians themselves would like to spread.

The abundance of hyperlinks to government sources could also be explained culturally. South Korea, as well as many other Asian nations, places a greater emphasis on familial ties than many Western nations. This cultural norm could have an effect on political hyperlinking, in that politicians are more likely to outlink to sources that they feel a closer and more immediate connection with. It is possible that the Assembly Members in South Korea "are using the Internet, and especially hyperlinks, in ways that demonstrate stronger commitments to parties than to issues". This is particularly surprising, considering the prevalence of Internet usage in South Korea. In a country with approximately 51 million citizens, South Korea has an Internet penetration rate of about 67%. This can be compared to an Internet penetration rate of just over 12% in all of Asia. Additionally, there are about 14 million broadband subscribers in the country. Yet, politicians are failing to take full advantage of the Internet's potential. Instead, politicians in South Korea are shying away from outlinking to non-government sources.

While Assembly Members in South Korea may not be using new media technologies to their full advantage, they are not alone in that they have little experience or historical precedent to examine for their own benefits. In the coming years, as blogging, hyperlinking, and the Internet continue to grow and evolve, it will be crucial for politicians and government officials to take their cues from previous occurrences in the world of Internet. Legislative decisions made in any part of the world could have a ripple effect on decisions made in other countries. Individuals or corporations that suffer repercussions as a result of hyperlinking could act as examples for others to consider in the future, just as governments around the world have observed Singapore's use of the Internet to advance their own techniques in the future. This case demonstrated that countries, and perhaps individuals or corporations, will take cues from other nations' governments in their pursuit of an effective Internet policy. Some of these cases of individuals facing the consequences of hyperlinking have already occurred or are in progress today.

One such example of a case that occurred relatively close to the South Korean peninsula took place in Hong Kong. It involves a 48 year-old man, Woo Tai-wai, who was prosecuted for providing a hyperlink to a pornographic website in another country. The man was fined for his offense, which violated an act preventing the spread of obscene articles on the Internet. The punishment in this particular case is representative of the idea that, in general, individuals should be held responsible for any outlinking they provide. The way this pertains to the case of Assembly Members in South Korea is that they may have been reluctant to outlink to non-government sources in part to avoid personal responsibility. Perhaps politicians are hesitant to outlink to sources that they may be held accountable for in the future. If another website ends up displaying content that could be considered politically inappropriate, just as Woo linked to a website that is considered culturally inappropriate, then the politician that links to that website could be directly associated with the website and held accountable for its content.

One of the factors affecting hyperlinking appears to be cultural norms, as exemplified by the tendency for South Korean Assembly Members to veer towards loyalty rather than mobilization of supporters. Another factor may be the threat of accountability that accompanies the act of linking to another site that is not controlled by the person providing the hyperlink. Finally, events that have recently taken place, as well as events in the near future, are important in shaping the usage of hyperlinks in politics. Just as the Internet, blogs, and new media technologies will continue to change in their affects on politics and their political applications, hyperlinking will continue to evolve for years to come.

Bibliography

Han Woo Park, Thelwall, Mike, & Kluver, Randolph. "Political Hyperlinking in South Korea: Technical Indicators of Ideology and Content." Sociological Research Online. Volume 10, Issue 3, . P. 10

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Wong, Chandra & Tsui, Yvonne. "HK$5,000 fine for Net porn link." South China Morning Post. 11 May, 2007. Retrieved from http://zonaeuropa.com/20070512_1.htm, December 3, 2007.