How Have Irish Parliamentarians Adapted to the Age of Web 2.0?

This study explores the engagement of members of the Irish lower parliamentary chamber, the Teachta Dála (TD), with Web 2.0 technologies. Content analysis is employed to evaluate TDs’ websites. While conducting the website-feature analysis, the authors look at three dimensions of each TD’s website: information content, interaction tools and politician’s activities on the web. The authors find that Irish parliamentarians embed themselves online mainly to catch up with the trends in the cyber age. Websites allow them to market themselves and increase visibility. But given that the offering of information is the prime aim, their usage of the Internet is still largely based on the paradigm of Web 1.0. A more accurate way to depict this phenomenon is that Irish politicians’ Internet usage is actually in the mode of Web 1.5 in which some interactive and participatory space is generated with the idea that the cyberspace should encourage citizen participation.Peer reviewe