“Having a large constituency that continues to be engaged could be quite important,” assistant political science professor Matt Grossmann said.

Grossmann said Obama could use his online presence to reach voters and ask for their support on initiatives he wants to pass.

“If the people who signed up for Obama’s e-mail list are willing to be an advocate when it comes to passing legislation, then certainly that could be helpful,” he said.

Representatives from Obama’s team did not return calls for comment about technology’s role in the campaign.

Although the technology will offer more ways for citizens to communicate with the government, it is unclear whether it actually will increase the amount of discourse.

Grossmann said Obama’s attempt to reach out to voters is nothing new, it’s just a different way of doing it. President Franklin D. Roosevelt did the same with his radio broadcast “fireside chats” and presidents have continued that tradition for decades.

“I don’t know how new it is, in terms of being open to contact,” he said. “Thousands of people write to the president all the time, before or after the Obama administration.”

Neeharika Tumati, student director of MSU Students for Barack Obama, said Obama’s online presence is what enabled him to form extensive grassroots organizations, such as the MSU group.

If Obama’s campaign success of using the Web to reach voters is any indication, his continued use of online communication media could engage tech-savvy voters who previously had ignored politics, Tumati said.

“(During the campaign) when a large part of his base opposed him, they went on his Web site and talked about it,” she said. “There are things that Obama will do (in office) that won’t appeal especially to the students. He’ll open a dialogue for those things to play out.”

Child development senior Liz Langs said she already has become more involved in politics than ever before, thanks to better Web communication. Langs received e-mail updates from Obama throughout the campaign and used his Web site to get informed on issues.

“It’s a lot easier for people to get online than to (read newspapers),” she said. “They’re getting the same information, just in a different way.”

Although the push for digital communication won’t include many older Americans and low-income individuals who don’t have access to such technology, Grossmann said that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be left out of the political process.

“Take, for example, letters to members of Congress,” he said. “It’s a lot easier for young people to e-mail than for older people to send a hand-written letter. Members of Congress know that, so they take into more consideration the hand-written letter.”