When the question, "How can we use the internet to shape democracy in America?" arises, my first thought is, how can't we? The internet is growing everyday and it's possibilities are numerous. The most important way that the internet can be used to successfully shape American democracy is through the spread of news. A majority of American's have homepages like AOL or Yahoo where the first thing you see when you log on are the daily headlines. This is so valuable (and unfortunately at the mercy of the major internet corporations) as a source of getting the latest headlines. Knowledge is power and this is the start of a successful democracy. 

A great example technology's influence in daily politics is current issue with the Olympics in Beijing. The issues in Tibet and Darfur were kept quiet for many years and as a result of the Olympics they have been highlighted and brought into the conversation of many Americans. (Darfur is apparently so unknown that my spellcheck thinks that it's spelled wrong...) Just getting the conversation started and spreading awareness creates involvement, and involvement is key in any successful democracy.

Mass media and information can be tricky though- as we have seen through the several different news sources available on TV today, not every channel depicts the same message for the same headline. The internet has a vast variety of sources as well and the public just needs to understand what is accurate and what is not. The internet is a bit easier to display stories as they really are for it's much like the newspaper- just words and pictures (However with the YouTube generation on the rise, television is infiltrating much of cyberspace).

The internet is a great tool to shape American's awareness and knowledge which I believe is the foremost important way that it can help in shaping democracy. Like I said, with knowledge comes power, and today it is so important to start conversations about politics to spread the knowledge and return the power back to the people.