New media and web 2.0 : an Irish republican example

The initial development of the Internet and the World Wide Web was based upon the presentation of static information, this only allowed for the access and consumption of that information. The development of Web 2.0 has resulted in a situation where information is displayed in a dynamic manner and allows for interaction between the viewer and the site or application showing this information. The information may no longer just be text based but could be video, audio and information presented in an interactive manner though applications.

The terms terrorist or terrorism are highly emotive terms but the general term, terrorist, is used to denote revolutionaries who seek to use terror systematically to further their views or to govern a particular area. Terrorist organisations are reflective and adoptive, this paper focus on the impact of Web 2.0 and its potential use by terrorist organisations. The paper uses real life case studies to identify the key issues and possible trends.