From Facebook to Parliament: Civic Participation through Social Network Organizations Between Success and Failure

Computer Mediated Communication has given access to political participation to a large number of citizens around the world mostly regardless of their ideological, social, ethnic, economic background. People living in different Countries or even who have voted for opposite parties for years may unite for a single issue purpose, for a protest, a petition, for organizing a revolt or a deeper change in government. The No-Global Movement years ago and, more recently, the Arab spring, have proved the possibilities of the Net in terms of political organization and impact. In Egypt and in Italy things have gone even further: Social Networks have become the means and the place for civic organization that later were transformed into  political parties running for  government. The paper will analyze possibilities and limits offered by the Web-Democracy in relation to these two recent examples.