The 2007 French Presidential Election, Part II: The Internet The biggest difference in this year's election compared to usual was the widespread use of the Internet. Candidates used websites to promote their platforms and engage in more open discussions with the public. Political space was less restricted by traditional media, allowing people to browse news and policies anytime, anywhere, directly participating in discourse and creating an open democratic world. This was particularly natural for younger voters, while older generations seemed somewhat disconnected. According to polls, 28% of people frequently used the Internet to understand current situations or discuss issues, 34% browsed occasionally, and 38% had no access to the Internet. Clearly, the Internet has become the most common tool for information dissemination today. Unlike past media propaganda, it allows people to express views on any policy they disagree with and even participate in debates in discussion areas. For example, the Socialist Party candidate’s open campaign website listened to public opinion under the theme of "participatory democracy," synthesizing political arguments from this information. Ségolène Royal’s website received at least 30,000 visits daily, demonstrating a directness in promoting and communicating policies and viewpoints that was unimaginable in past political elections. These French presidential election political websites are divided into three major types: official websites of various parties and candidate centers (as listed below), special report information websites from major news media, television stations, and radio stations related to the presidential election, and finally, the widely popular blogs on the Internet today. These are private blogs planned and discussed by die-hard party members who like politics or political journalists. In the future, any election will become more lively and democratized via the Internet. Various political arguments and viewpoints exchanged through the Internet and blogs, even leading to debates, allow anyone who wants to understand or support/oppose something to directly participate in discourse or debate, rather than blindly being influenced. One can clearly see the trends and viewpoints of policies among different parties and social groups. The following websites are provided for friends interested in the 2007 French presidential election as reference: Important French presidential election websites: [[http://agoravox.com|agoravox.com]], [[http://debat2007.fr|debat2007.fr]], [[http://kelvote.com|kelvote.com]], [[http://presidentielles.comparer.com|presidentielles.comparer.com]], [[http://www.observatoire-presidentielle.fr|www.observatoire-presidentielle.fr]] Websites of various parties: PS [[http://www.parti-socialiste.fr|www.parti-socialiste.fr]], UMP [[http://www.u-m-p.org|www.u-m-p.org]], UDF [[http://www.udf.org|www.udf.org]], FN [[http://www.frontnational.com|www.frontnational.com]], PCF [[http://www.pcf.fr|www.pcf.fr]], Les Verts [[http://lesverts.fr|lesverts.fr]], LCR [[www.lcr-rouge.org]], LO [[http://www.lutte-ouvriere.org|www.lutte-ouvriere.org]] Presidential campaign center websites: Website of Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing UMP presidential candidate: [[http://blog-ump.typead.fr/blog|blog-ump.typead.fr/blog]], [[http://sarkozy2007.forumactif.com|sarkozy2007.forumactif.com]] Websites against Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing UMP presidential candidate: [[http://sarkostique.over-blog.com|sarkostique.over-blog.com]], [[http://sarkozix.canclblog.com|sarkozix.canclblog.com]] and [[http://touscontresarko.com/blog|touscontresarko.com/blog]] Website of Ségolène Royal, the left-wing Socialist presidential candidate: [[http://segoleneroyal2007.net|segoleneroyal2007.net]] and [[http://segoleneroyal.tw|segoleneroyal.tw]] Websites against Ségolène Royal, the left-wing Socialist presidential candidate: [[http://segoleneroyale.com|segoleneroyale.com]], [[http://segolene.blogspot.com|segolene.blogspot.com]], [[http://desertdavenir.com|desertdavenir.com]] Website of François Bayrou, the centrist presidential candidate: [[http://www.bayrou.fr|www.bayrou.fr]] Website of Dominique Voynet, the Green Party presidential candidate: [[http://dominiquevoynet.net|dominiquevoynet.net]] Website of Marie-George Buffet, the Communist Party presidential candidate: [[http://www.mgbuffet.org|www.mgbuffet.org]] Website of Arlette Laguiller, the Workers' Party presidential candidate: [[http://www.arlette-laguiller.org|www.arlette-laguiller.org]] Website of Olivier Besancenot, the far-left presidential candidate: [[http://besancenot2007.org|besancenot2007.org]] Website of Philippe de Villiers, the far-right presidential candidate: [[http://villiers2007.over-blog.com|villiers2007.over-blog.com]] Some blogs analyzing the presidential election: [[http://vanb.typepad.com/versac|vanb.typepad.com/versac]], [[http://blpwebzine.blogs.com/politicshow|blpwebzine.blogs.com/politicshow]], [[http://blog.netpolitique.net|blog.netpolitique.net]], [[http://www.buzz-blog.com|www.buzz-blog.com]] [[http://www.foruminternet.org/webcqmpqgne|www.foruminternet.org/webcqmpqgne]]