Of course, the Komen story seems to have been driven as much by mainstream media coverage as netizen revolt. And another online phenomenon of recent months — the Kony 2012 video that briefly focused the nation's attention on an obscure Ugandan warlord — took its own quirky path.
Indeed, all three stories — the SOPA campaign, the Komen controversy, the Kony video — can be viewed as standalone exceptions, says Nicco Mele, who served as webmaster for Howard Dean's presidential campaign and now teaches classes on the impact of the Internet on media and politics at Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy.
But collectively, he says, they suggest something more — "that the political institutions of the United States are in flux." In flux, indeed.
David Scharfenberg can be reached at dscharfenberg@phx.com.
Related:
Islamophobics Anonymous, Gifts of the magi, The debt crisis is only on hold, More 
- Islamophobics Anonymous
Teabag proof!
- Gifts of the magi
OK, so math isn't Poliquin's strong point. And he's a little shaky on consistency. But are those minor flaws enough to convince Santa to leave coal in his stocking?
- The debt crisis is only on hold
The United States was only hours away from joining in the international community of deadbeats and bunko artists — think Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Portugal — when President Barack Obama signed the legislation raising the national debt ceiling and cutting trillions of dollars in federal spending.
- Putting the 'Arrrr' in DRM
Forget Talk Like a Pirate Day. In the 2012 elections, November 6 will be Vote Like a Pirate Day — if you happened to have joined a growing number of hackers and Internet activists and registered as a member of the Massachusetts Pirate Party (MAPP).
- Can Netroots make a difference in November – and beyond?
Online progressive activists have grown and developed to the point where they are ready to play critical roles in 2012 elections all over the country.
- Your guide to Netroots Nation 2012
So many panels, so many receptions, so many opportunities to get filthy drunk. It's hard to know where to begin. Well, you've come to right place.
- Terry's Last Run: The only state senator in danger this November is the one who holds the place together
Therese Murray took over as Senate president in March 2007, which means — under the eight-year limit adopted after William Bulger's two-decade reign — that she would have to step down just two months into the 2015-2016 session.
- Red Blues: Scott Brown exposes the empty Massachusetts GOP bench
It wasn't just that Scott Brown announced he was not running in the special US Senate election — it was that it quickly became evident that he was not handing the job off to another Republican.
- School for fools
If there's one Maine institution Governor Paul LePage hates more than the state's whiny newspapers, it's public schools. And for good reason.
- ‘Beyond description’: Aaron Worthing unmasked
Of everyone who answered the rallying cries of Frey and Breitbart, one of the loudest was a character who wrote under the pseudonym Aaron Worthing.
- Become a decorated drone hero!
New from the Pentagon, collect your medals ...
- Less
Topics:
News Features
, Politics, netroots, national, More
, Politics, netroots, national, SOPA, PIPA, news features, Less
