Say goodbye to the old rules of democracy

I am reading the book Alone Together by Sherry Turkle and I think it reveals quite a lot of annoying facts about how today's technology changes people psychologically. On the other hand, partly because of the weakness of the civil society in my country, Hungary, I began thinking about potential positive outcomes of the digital revolution, for example ways that technology could improve the democratic system.
It's well-known that online activities of parties are extremely important in the election campaigns, but it is also interesting to see the other side of the story, from the North African movements fueled by social media to the surprisingly viral memetic effect of the Occupy Wall Street initiative. Social media and the net in general will not only put parties in a different situation (similarly to business corporations who nowadays cannot afford to lie as much as before), but it will also empower people in a political sense, or at least there may be ways to create a digital environment where members of a society can represent their interests better.
What I suggest is that going to a small room every four years and putting an X next to a party or a candidate's name might not be the most efficient way of making the next generation happier. Just like e-commerce revolutionized  the way we approach shopping, e-politics will change our attitudes towards democracy.
Facebook groups are formed much faster than offline communities and the world is full of issues that should be solved quite quickly. I believe that technology will enable the masses to control political alternatives better. Of course I don't think a "real-time" base-democracy would be ideal (because it could as well be called anarchy), but I am convinced that digital political platforms will appear and make everyday people feel having more power over their lives and their future as a community.
The European Union is slowly getting closer to a real union (if it doesn't fall apart), so some important decisions will be centralized. But this does not only mean that national governments will have less power, it also results in smaller communities and local authorities having an increased responsibility. Digital platforms in local communities will take advantage of location services and a better control of everyday issues, while long term global problems can be tackled more effectively by MPs who are linked to their voters more directly in the online space.
Of course, parties will always want power, and I agree with Churchill saying "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other methods that have been tried", but I also believe that the strength of bottom-up initiatives directly effects the long term quality of life of a society.
So, we should learn to use technology in a way that doesn't separate us as human beings, as Sherry Turkle suggests, but also we will have a chance to "make the world a better place" if we find the methods for digital devices and platforms to make our communities stronger.